Kundli milan: Ashtakoota 36-guna matching

The eight kootas: what is compared

What tradition links each koota with is as Drik Panchang’s kundali match guide puts it; these are what the tradition says, not predictions of ours.

1. Varna (1 point): Meena, Vrishchika and Karka are Brahmin rashis, Mesha, Simha and Dhanu Kshatriya, Vrishabha, Kanya and Makara Vaishya, and Mithuna, Tula and Kumbha Shudra. If the boy’s varna is the same as the girl’s or higher, 1 point, otherwise 0 (Muhurta Chintamani 22; Drik Panchang). Tradition links it with mutual love and harmony.
2. Vashya (2 points): The rashis fall into five groups: four-footed, human, water, wild (Simha) and insect (Vrishchika); Dhanu and Makara are half in one group and half in another. The same group scores 2; other pairs 1, ½ or 0, by which rashi is held to be under the sway (vashya) or the prey (bhakshya) of which (Muhurta Chintamani 23; Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram, verse 20; Drik Panchang). Tradition treats it as the koota of mutual influence and amenability.
3. Tara (3 points): Count from the girl’s nakshatra to the boy’s, and from the boy’s to the girl’s, and divide each count by 9. Each direction whose remainder is not 3, 5 or 7 scores 1½ (Muhurta Chintamani 24; Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram). Tradition links it with fortune and each other’s welfare.
4. Yoni (4 points): Each nakshatra has an animal yoni, such as the horse for Ashwini and Shatabhisha. The same yoni scores 4, a friendly one 3, a neutral one 2, an unfriendly one 1, and the seven opposed pairs (cow–tiger, elephant–lion, horse–buffalo, dog–deer, serpent–mongoose, monkey–ram, cat–rat) 0 (Muhurta Chintamani 25–26 with its commentary; the table of pairs is the Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram’s). Tradition links it with physical compatibility.
5. Graha Maitri (5 points): It looks at the natural friendship of the grahas that rule the two Moon rashis: the same lord or mutual friends 5, friend and neutral 4, both neutral 3, friend and enemy 1, neutral and enemy ½, both enemies 0 (Muhurta Chintamani 27–28; Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram). Tradition treats it as the koota of mind and temperament.
6. Gana (6 points): Each nakshatra belongs to the Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa gana. The same gana scores 6; the other pairs are in the table below (Muhurta Chintamani 29–30). Tradition links it with nature and temperament.
7. Bhakoot (7 points): The boy’s rashi is counted from the girl’s: if the two rashis are 2nd and 12th, 5th and 9th, or 6th and 8th from each other, 0, in every other case 7 (Muhurta Chintamani 31). Tradition links it with family, children and prosperity.
8. Nadi (8 points): Each nakshatra belongs to the Adi, Madhya or Antya nadi. Different nadis score 8, the same nadi 0 (Muhurta Chintamani 34). Tradition links it with temperament and bodily constitution.

Yoni, gana and nadi by nakshatra

The padas, name letters, graha and deity of each nakshatra: 27 nakshatras

Varna, vashya and lord by rashi

How it is worked out

From the date, time and city of birth the Moon’s sidereal position (Lahiri ayanamsha) at the moment of birth is worked out, exactly as on the birth panchang, and from it the nakshatra, pada and rashi. It agrees with Drik Panchang within 1′. If the time of birth is within 15 minutes of a change of nakshatra or rashi, the result gives a warning. If you choose the nakshatra, the pada fixes the rashi; for a nakshatra split between two rashis (such as Krittika: Mesha and Vrishabha) choose the rashi if the pada is not known.

Then the points of each koota are counted by the eight rules above. In Vashya the group changes at 15° of Dhanu and Makara: when the pada does not settle it (the first pada of Purva Ashadha and the second of Shravana lie on both sides of 15°), both possible values are shown. Tara, Yoni, Gana and Nadi come from the nakshatra, and Varna, Vashya, Graha Maitri and Bhakoot from the rashi.

The Vashya and Gana points

The boy’s group by row, the girl’s by column, as Drik Panchang counts them.

Where traditions differ

• Varna: some authorities give half a point when both varnas are the same (Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram, verse 16, “some say half for equals”). Drik Panchang mentions comparing the varnas of the two rashi lords as a last resort when the boy’s varna is lower. We give a full 1 or 0.
• Vashya: as in Drik Panchang, the first half of Dhanu (0°–15°) is human and the second four-footed, the first half of Makara four-footed and the second water, and Kumbha human. Some books count Simha as four-footed and Kumbha as water (Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram, 1932). We count the points as Drik Panchang’s kundali match does (checked on five pairs on 7 October 2026): ½ for human–water, by the rule “half a point for vashya with bhakshya”, and 0 for a wild boy with a four-footed girl. Some websites print the same table with the girl by row and 1½ in place of ½, and Drik’s own guide also says “one, one-and-half and zero”.
• Yoni: the table of friendly, neutral and unfriendly yonis differs by a point for some pairs between sources. We use the table of the Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram (1932), which agrees with Drik Panchang on three of the four pairs checked. Drik gives rat–horse 3, where the Avakahada and Saravali give 2, so for such a pair our total can be a point below Drik’s. Saravali’s table (as in PyJHora) differs on 27 of the 105 pairs.
• Graha Maitri: Pt. Mahidhara Sharma’s commentary on the Muhurta Chintamani gives 2 for friend–enemy and 1 for neutral–enemy; we give 1 and ½, by the Avakahada verse and as the common tables do; Drik Panchang also gives 1 for friend–enemy.
• Gana: we count as Drik Panchang does (checked): a Deva boy with a Manushya girl 6, a Manushya boy with a Deva girl 5, a Rakshasa boy with a Deva girl 1 (table below). Some websites print the same numbers with the girl by row, which turns the direction round. The Ati Brihat Avakahada Chakram gives 5 for Deva–Manushya and 1 for Deva–Rakshasa either way round; the Uttarakhand Open University textbook (Melapak evam Vivah Muhurt Vichar) gives 4 for a Deva girl with a Manushya boy, 2 for a Rakshasa boy with a Deva girl and 1 for a Rakshasa boy with a Manushya girl.
• Bhakoot and Nadi: the texts give exceptions in some cases, such as both rashis having the same lord or friendly lords, or the same nakshatra in a different rashi or pada (Muhurta Chintamani 32–34). Some programs then add the full points. We do not change the points: the table shows the plain calculation.