Guna Milan Explained: The Eight Kootas and 36 Points

Guna Milan, also called Ashtakoota milan, compares two birth charts on eight factors called kootas. Each is worth between 1 and 8 points, for a maximum of 36. All eight are worked out from just two things per person: the sign the Moon was in at birth (the Rashi) and the Moon's nakshatra. The total is a traditional way of summarising how those two Moons relate. It's one input to a marriage decision, not a forecast of how a marriage will go.

Below, each koota is described twice: what the tradition says it compares, and exactly how Divya Jyot's Match Making scores it, including where our tables are simpler than the fullest classical versions.

The eight kootas at a glance

Koota	Max points	Read from	Traditionally compares
Varna	1	Moon signs	Temperament and work
Vashya	2	Moon signs	Mutual attraction
Tara	3	Nakshatras	Birth-star harmony
Yoni	4	Nakshatras	Physical compatibility
Graha Maitri	5	Lords of the Moon signs	Mental compatibility
Gana	6	Nakshatras	Nature and behaviour
Bhakoot	7	Moon signs	Moon-sign relationship
Nadi	8	Nakshatras	Health and progeny
Total	36

The weights rise from 1 to 8, so the last three kootas (Gana, Bhakoot and Nadi) carry 21 of the 36 points between them. A pair can lose most of the score on those three alone.

Nothing else in either chart takes part. The Lagna, the houses and the other planets aren't read at all. Keep that in mind when a total seems to say something sweeping about a couple.

Koota by koota

Varna (1 point)

Each Moon sign belongs to one of four traditional classes, grouped by element: the water signs rank highest, then fire, then earth, then air. These are a classification of signs, not of anyone's family or community. Divya Jyot gives the point when the groom's Moon-sign class is equal to or higher than the bride's, and 0 otherwise. Because the rule looks at who is the groom and who is the bride, swapping the two can change the result.

Vashya (2 points)

Signs are grouped by the kind of creature they're traditionally associated with: four-legged animals, humans, water creatures and insects. Divya Jyot gives 2 points when both Moon signs fall in the same group, 1 when the human group pairs with the four-legged or water group, and 0 otherwise. This is a whole-sign simplification. The fullest classical version splits Sagittarius and Capricorn by degree, and our tables don't.

Tara (3 points)

Tara counts the nakshatras from one partner's Moon to the other's and reduces the count into a cycle of nine taras, some considered favourable and some not. It's counted in both directions. Each direction that lands on a favourable tara earns 1.5 points. A count that lands on the birth-star tara itself (Janma) earns half of that. This is where half points come from.

Yoni (4 points)

Each of the 27 nakshatras is linked to one of 14 animals. The tradition treats the same animal as the best pairing and seven specific pairs (such as cat and rat, or cow and tiger) as hostile. Divya Jyot scores the same animal 4, a hostile pair 0, and every other combination 2. Classical tables use a finer scale for the in-between pairs. Ours uses a single middle value.

Graha Maitri (5 points)

This koota looks at the planets that rule the two Moon signs and whether the tradition counts them as friends. Divya Jyot scores 5 when both signs share a lord, 4 when the two lords are mutual friends, 1 when either lord treats the other as an enemy, and 3 in other cases. The fullest classical scheme has a few more grades.

Gana (6 points)

Every nakshatra is assigned one of three temperaments: Deva (divine), Manushya (human) or Rakshasa (fierce). The same Gana scores 6. Deva with Manushya scores 5 or 6, depending on which partner has which. Deva or Manushya paired with Rakshasa scores 0. That 0 is what the result calls a Gana dosha.

Bhakoot (7 points)

Bhakoot looks at how far apart the two Moon signs are. It's all-or-nothing: 7 points, or 0 when the signs sit in a 2–12, 5–9 or 6–8 relationship to each other. Those three relationships are what is called Bhakoot dosha, and the 6–8 one is sometimes called Shadashtak. Same sign, 3–11, 4–10 and 1–7 all score the full 7.

Nadi (8 points)

The 27 nakshatras are divided into three Nadis, Aadi, Madhya and Antya, nine nakshatras each. Different Nadis score 8. The same Nadi scores 0, which is Nadi dosha. With the heaviest weight of any koota, Nadi alone can move a total by 8 points.

Nadi and Bhakoot dosha: what the score does and doesn't do

Classical texts and regional practices describe exceptions under which a Nadi or Bhakoot dosha is considered cancelled. The lists vary between sources and between families. Divya Jyot's score doesn't apply any of them. A Nadi of 0 is shown as 0 and a Bhakoot of 0 as 0, and the result lists it among the points needing attention. Whether an exception applies in a particular case is a question for an astrologer, not something the score has already decided.

Half points, the total and the percentage

Divya Jyot shows the Guna total as the exact sum of the eight kootas. Half points are kept, never rounded, so a total such as 20.5 is normal. The percentage beside it is the total divided by 36, rounded to the nearest whole number.

The result also shows a label based on that percentage: Excellent at 75% or more, Good from 55%, Average from 40%, and Low below that. These bands are the site's own way of summarising the percentage, not a classical category.

Many families treat 18 out of 36 as a minimum for going ahead. It is a traditional convention rather than a measured cut-off. On Divya Jyot's bands, 18 points (50%) falls under "Average".

A worked example: why every koota is shown

Take a hypothetical groom whose Moon is in Mithuna, in Mrigashira nakshatra, and a bride whose Moon is in Tula, in Swati. Divya Jyot scores them 26 out of 36 (72%), labelled "Good match":

Varna	Vashya	Tara	Yoni	Graha Maitri	Gana	Bhakoot	Nadi
1 / 1	2 / 2	3 / 3	2 / 4	4 / 5	6 / 6	0 / 7	8 / 8

The total looks comfortable, yet the two Moon signs sit in a 5–9 relationship, which is a Bhakoot dosha. Now take a couple whose Moons are both in Tula and both in Swati. They score 26.5 (74%), also "Good match", with full Bhakoot points but a Nadi dosha, because two people with the same nakshatra always share a Nadi. The tradition treats those two doshas quite differently. A single number flattens that, which is why the Match Making result lists every koota alongside the total.

Why other calculators can give a different total

If you check the same couple elsewhere, don't be surprised by a different figure. Tables differ between traditions and between software. Some calculators apply dosha exceptions and some don't. And, as noted above, Divya Jyot uses simpler gradings for Vashya, Yoni and Graha Maitri. Our tables follow the classical eight-koota framework and are checked for structure, but they are a simplified presentation of it, not the complete traditional system with every grade and exception, and individual tables remain subject to practitioner review.

A difference can also come from the inputs rather than the method. If either person's Moon changed sign or nakshatra around their birth time, a few minutes' difference in the entered time, or a different ayanamsa, can put the Moon on the other side of a boundary.

The Mangal comparison sits alongside the score

Mangal (Manglik) Dosha isn't one of the eight kootas and adds nothing to the 36. Divya Jyot's Match Making shows it separately. Each person's verdict is worked out as on the Mangal Dosha tool: Mars is checked from the Lagna and from the Moon, and classical cancellations are applied. The side-by-side comparison of the couple reads Mars's placement only. Because the Lagna depends on the exact birth time, this part in particular needs both times.

Does Guna Milan need birth times?

The eight kootas only read the Moon's sign and nakshatra, which change far more slowly than the Lagna. The Moon still covers about 13° a day, though, and a nakshatra is only 13°20′ wide, so it often changes nakshatra during a single day. Without the times, a couple can have several possible totals rather than one. Kundali matching without birth time works through an example. You can check where each person's Moon was on the Rashi and Nakshatra tools, and Rashi vs Lagna vs Sun sign explains why the Moon, not the Sun, is the reference here.

What Guna Milan doesn't do

It doesn't look at the rest of either chart: the 7th house, Venus, the dashas running at the time of marriage, or anything else a full reading would cover. Divya Jyot doesn't present it as a predictor of happiness or of a marriage lasting, and no score settles an outcome in either direction. As the Match Making page puts it, Guna Milan is one traditional input to a marriage decision, not a verdict on it.