Gun milan (ashtakoot milan) scores two people out of 36 points across eight factors called kootas, all worked out from each person's Moon sign and Moon nakshatra. Tradition treats 18 or more as acceptable, but the total alone says little: which kootas were lost, especially nadi (8 points) and bhakoot (7 points), matters more than the number.
That second sentence is the one most gun milan pages skip. This guide explains each koota and how it is scored, what the score bands really mean, the two doshas that sit inside the score, and then works through a real match from our engine that lands exactly on 18 of 36. To check your own pair, use the free kundli matching tool alongside this page.
What gun milan measures, and what it does not
Gun milan compares the two Moon positions: the sign (rashi) and the nakshatra the Moon occupied at each birth. That is all. The lagna, the 7th house and its lord, Venus, Mars, the dasha periods and the navamsa (D9) chart are not part of the 36 points.
This is not a flaw; it is what the method is. The Moon stands for the mind and for everyday temperament, and a system based on it answers the question "how naturally do these two minds sit together?" But it cannot answer questions about the marriage as a whole. That is why every serious tradition treats gun milan as the first filter, followed by a look at both full charts and at manglik dosha.
A note on traditions: the 36-point ashtakoot system is the North and West Indian standard. In Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, families often use the ten-factor dasha porutham instead, which overlaps but is scored differently. The two can disagree about the same couple.
The eight kootas and their points
The points rise from 1 to 8, and the heavier kootas are the ones tradition cares most about.
| Koota | Max | Compares | Traditionally read as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varna | 1 | class of each Moon sign | outlook, temperament |
| Vashya | 2 | group of each Moon sign | mutual influence, attraction |
| Tara | 3 | nakshatra counted each way | wellbeing, fortune together |
| Yoni | 4 | animal of each nakshatra | physical and instinctive compatibility |
| Graha maitri | 5 | friendship of the Moon-sign lords | mental compatibility |
| Gana | 6 | Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa temperament | temperament, conduct |
| Bhakoot | 7 | distance between the Moon signs | family welfare, prosperity |
| Nadi | 8 | Adi, Madhya or Antya nadi | health, progeny |
| Total | 36 |
Varna (1 point)
Each Moon sign has a varna, by element: water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) Brahmin, fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) Kshatriya, earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) Vaishya, air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) Shudra. The point is given when the boy's varna is the same as or higher than the girl's. It is the lightest koota, and it is read today as a match of outlook, not of caste.
Vashya (2 points)
The signs are grouped into five vashya classes: human (manav), quadruped (chatushpada), water (jalchar), wild (vanchar, Leo) and insect (keeta, Scorpio). Same class scores 2; one class naturally "controlling" the other scores less; incompatible classes score 0.
Tara (3 points)
Count from the girl's nakshatra to the boy's, divide by 9, and look at the remainder; then do the same the other way. Remainders 3, 5 and 7 (Vipat, Pratyak and Naidhana tara) are unfavourable. Both counts favourable score 3; one favourable scores 1.5; neither scores 0.
Yoni (4 points)
Each of the 27 nakshatras (plus Abhijit in some lists) has one of 14 animal yonis: horse, elephant, sheep, serpent, dog, cat, rat, cow, buffalo, tiger, deer, monkey, mongoose and lion. The same animal scores 4, friendly animals 3, neutral 2, unfriendly 1, and the sworn-enemy pairs (such as cow and tiger, or cat and rat) score 0.
Graha maitri (5 points)
The lords of the two Moon signs are compared using the natural friendships of Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. Mutual friends, or the same lord, score 5; friend and neutral 4; both neutral 3; friend and enemy 1; neutral and enemy ½; mutual enemies 0. This is often the most useful koota to read, because it describes how two minds reason.
Gana (6 points)
Every nakshatra is Deva (gentle), Manushya (human, mixed) or Rakshasa (intense, independent). The same gana scores 6; Deva with Manushya scores 5 or 6 depending on who is who; Manushya with Rakshasa scores 0; Deva with Rakshasa scores 0 or 1. The Deva–Rakshasa cells are where almanacs most often differ by a point. "Rakshasa" is a traditional label for temperament, not a judgement of character.
Bhakoot (7 points)
Count from one Moon sign to the other. If the signs are 2/12, 5/9 or 6/8 from each other, bhakoot scores 0; all other relations (the same sign, 3/11, 4/10, 1/7) score 7. A zero here is called bhakoot dosha. Commonly cited exceptions are when both Moon signs have the same lord (Aries and Scorpio, for example, are 6/8 but both ruled by Mars) or when the two lords are natural friends.
Nadi (8 points)
Each nakshatra belongs to one of three nadis: Adi, Madhya or Antya. Different nadis score 8; the same nadi scores 0. That zero is nadi dosha, the most discussed factor in matching. The exceptions most texts cite are: the same Moon sign but different nakshatras; the same nakshatra but different Moon signs; or the same nakshatra with different padas. Some astrologers accept these fully, some partly, and some not for particular nakshatras. Our tool flags which exceptions apply and does not add points back, so you always see the classical number.
What the score bands mean
| Score | Traditional reading | Our tool shows |
|---|---|---|
| below 18 | low match | Low |
| 18 to 24½ | acceptable, average | Acceptable |
| 25 to 32 | good | Good |
| 32½ to 36 | excellent, and rare | Excellent |
Two cautions follow straight from the arithmetic.
Nadi and bhakoot are 15 of the 36 points. Lose both and the maximum left is 21, so a pair can have every other koota perfect and still sit only just above 18. The reverse is also true: a pair can pass 18 on the light kootas while losing the two heaviest.
The same score can hide very different pictures. A 24 made of full nadi and bhakoot with weak yoni and gana is not the same match as a 24 with nadi at zero. This is why a matching report lists all eight kootas one by one.
A worked example: 18 of 36, and where the points went
Here are two real charts from our engine. The names are examples; the numbers are exact (Lahiri ayanamsa).
- Rohan: born 1 January 1990, 10:00, Varanasi. Moon in Aquarius, Dhanishta nakshatra, pada 4.
- Asha: born 14 May 1992, 18:30, Mumbai. Moon in Libra, Chitra nakshatra, pada 4.
| Koota | Rohan | Asha | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varna | Shudra | Shudra | 1 / 1 |
| Vashya | Manav | Manav | 2 / 2 |
| Tara | Janma | Janma | 3 / 3 |
| Yoni | Lion | Tiger | 1 / 4 |
| Graha maitri | Saturn | Venus | 5 / 5 |
| Gana | Rakshasa | Rakshasa | 6 / 6 |
| Bhakoot | Aquarius | Libra | 0 / 7 |
| Nadi | Madhya | Madhya | 0 / 8 |
| Total | 18 / 36 |
On the headline number, this is an "acceptable" match, right on the line. Read the rows and the picture changes in both directions.
What is strong. Six of the eight kootas are at or near full marks. Saturn and Venus, the two Moon-sign lords, are natural friends, so graha maitri is a full 5. Both are Rakshasa gana, which is a full 6: two similar, independent temperaments. Tara is full in both directions.
What is lost. Fifteen of the 18 missing points come from bhakoot and nadi. Libra and Aquarius are 5th and 9th from each other, so bhakoot is 0. Dhanishta and Chitra are both Madhya nadi, so nadi is 0. The remaining 3 points are lost in yoni: lion and tiger are unfriendly animals.
What the tool flags. For bhakoot, our engine lists one exception: the Moon-sign lords Saturn and Venus are natural friends, which many astrologers take to soften a 5/9 bhakoot. For nadi, no exception applies: the two have different nakshatras and different Moon signs. Our tool shows both facts and leaves the score at 18.
What the score does not see. Asha's chart is manglik from Venus (Mars is 12th from Venus), while Rohan's is not manglik from any of the three points; the tool reports this as "one side". Neither the manglik comparison nor anything else in the two full charts is inside the 18.
So an honest reading of this pair is: warm on temperament and friendship, with the two heaviest traditional concerns both flagged, one of them with an accepted exception. A family priest might weigh that differently from another, and that is the point. The number opened a conversation; it did not close it.
How to use gun milan sensibly
- Get the Moon right. Gun milan needs the nakshatra, so birth time matters when the Moon was near a nakshatra or sign boundary. The Moon moves about 13° a day, one nakshatra roughly every day.
- Read the kootas, not just the total. Start with nadi, bhakoot and graha maitri.
- Check the listed exceptions, and ask how your family's tradition treats them.
- Look at manglik status for both, and what cancels it.
- Then look at the whole charts: the 7th house and its lord, Venus, and the dasha periods around the wedding. Our kundli shows each person's chart in full.
- Keep perspective. Gun milan is one traditional input. It does not see character, values, how two people treat each other, or what they want from life. No score overrides that, and no score is a reason to fear a marriage.
Try it yourself
Enter both birth details in the free kundli matching tool: it gives the full 36-point table, each koota with what was compared, the nadi and bhakoot flags with exceptions, and a manglik comparison. If you are new to reading charts, start with how to read your kundli. If you want both charts and the eight kootas read together in plain language, with manglik considered on both sides, the matching report does that; for one person's 7th house, navamsa and timing, there is the marriage report.