Ashtakoota: The 8 Kootas of Vedic Compatibility Matching

Ashtakoota, "the eight-fold matching", is the classical Vedic framework for assessing how well two charts align before marriage. It is also called guna milan, "the matching of qualities". The method works almost entirely from one point in each chart: the nakshatra, or birth star, the Moon occupied at birth. From that, plus the Moon's sign, the system scores the two charts across eight factors, the kootas, that together carry 36 points. For the system as a whole, including score bands and what the points leave out, the starting place is the kundli matching. This page goes deep on each koota: how it is calculated, what it weighs, and what drives a full or partial score.

Why the Moon is the anchor

In Jyotish, the Moon is the mind: the inner, feeling self that actually lives alongside another person day after day. Matching takes each partner's Moon, finds the nakshatra it sits in, and compares the two stars. That anchoring in the Moon's nakshatra is why accurate birth details matter: the Moon changes nakshatra roughly once every 24 hours, so a missing birth time can, on some dates, leave the birth star uncertain. If you do not know your nakshatra, the calculator finds it from your birth details.

All eight kootas at a glance

The eight sum to 36. The ordering by weight is the tradition's quiet message: charm and attraction sit at the bottom; emotional ease and vitality sit at the top.

Koota 1: Varna (1 point)

Varna, meaning "type" or "class", assigns each of the 12 signs to one of four categories based on their element and nature. The four categories are Brahmin (spiritually oriented), Kshatriya (action oriented), Vaishya (trade and community oriented), and Shudra (service oriented). The general rule is that the man's varna category should be equal to or higher than the woman's for the full point to apply, though some traditions read the point differently depending on the school.

This is the lightest koota by design. It sets a broad orientation: a spiritual temperament and a more earthly one might need more conscious mutual understanding. One point, a gentle nod, and nothing more.

Koota 2: Vashya (2 points)

Vashya, meaning "control" or "magnetism", reads the natural pull between the two Moon signs. Each sign is categorised as exercising influence over certain others: some signs draw others to them, and the mutual pull varies by pairing. Two points when the pairing is mutually attractive, one when the pull runs one way, and zero when neither sign draws the other in the classic assignments.

Vashya measures the spark that makes time together pleasant, the ease of give-and-take. Two points of attraction: small, but real.

Koota 3: Tara (3 points)

Tara, meaning "star", measures the distance between the two birth stars and asks whether the two stars wish each other well. The calculation counts from the woman's nakshatra to the man's, divides by nine, and reads the remainder against the tara chakra, a nine-step cycle. Many practitioners run the count in both directions; some traditions use only the woman-to-man direction. The nine positions in the cycle carry names: Janma (1st), Sampat (2nd), Vipat (3rd), Kshema (4th), Pratyari (5th), Sadhaka (6th), Vadha (7th), Mitra (8th), Ati-Mitra (9th).

Positions 1, 3, 5, and 7 in the cycle are read as difficult; positions 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9 as good. Where both directions are checked, the full three points require both counts to land on good positions. Partial scores follow from mixed results. Tara assesses whether the orbit of one person's birth star sits in a supportive relationship to the other's.

Koota 4: Yoni (4 points)

Yoni assigns each of the 27 nakshatras an animal symbol. Each symbol appears twice in the nakshatra cycle, once in the first half and once in the second, giving 14 animal pairs in total. The tradition calls each pair either same, friendly, neutral, unfriendly, or enemy.

The classic animal assignments (nakshatra to animal, in order):

Yoni reads instinctive and physical harmony. Four points reflects that the tradition weighed this as a meaningful part of a long shared life, while keeping it clearly below the factors of mind and health.

Koota 5: Graha Maitri (5 points)

Graha Maitri, "planetary friendship", compares the lords of the two Moon signs using the classical table of planetary friendships from the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. If the lord of Partner A's Moon sign is a friend to the lord of Partner B's Moon sign, and vice versa, the full five points apply. Mutual neutrality gives three or two points (traditions vary on the partial bands). One unfriendly relationship in either direction reduces the score further, and mutual enmity gives zero.

This koota reads the quality of mind-to-mind understanding: do the ruling planets of the two Moon signs naturally support each other? It is also the strongest single softening condition for bhakoot dosha, because a friendly pairing of Moon-sign lords eases the difficult spacings bhakoot flags. Graha maitri and bhakoot therefore speak to each other across the table.

Koota 6: Gana (6 points)

Gana, meaning "temperament class", sorts all 27 nakshatras into three groups. Deva nakshatras (godly) tend toward calm, idealism, and spiritual orientation. Manushya nakshatras (human) tend toward practical, worldly concerns with full emotional range. Rakshasa nakshatras (fierce) tend toward intensity, independence, and a more assertive energy.

Same gana scores 6 points. Deva-manushya and manushya-deva (either direction) score 4 points. Deva-rakshasa and manushya-rakshasa pairings score lower, with deva-rakshasa the least favoured. The specific partial-band values vary by school, but the pattern holds: the tradition cares about two people moving at the same basic temperature, and the larger the gap between the two ganas, the more points fall away.

Six points placed on this factor reflects how much, over a long life, fundamental temperament determines ease of day-to-day companionship.

Koota 7: Bhakoot (7 points)

Bhakoot reads the relative position of the two Moon signs around the zodiac. It counts the number of signs from one Moon sign to the other and back, and checks those counts against a list of favourable and unfavourable spacings.

Full seven points apply when the two Moon signs form a harmonious spacing. Three specific spacings score zero and are called bhakoot dosha:

• 2-12: one Moon sign is two signs ahead of the other (and twelve behind)
• 5-9: one is five ahead (and nine behind)
• 6-8: one is six ahead (and eight behind)

The 1-1 pairing (same Moon sign) typically scores full points. The 3-11, 4-10, and 7-7 spacings also score favourably.

The classical cancellation: when the lords of the two Moon signs are mutual friends, or the same planet, bhakoot dosha is eased. This is exactly what graha maitri measures, so a full or near-full graha maitri score acts as a bhakoot softener. The kootas are designed to be read together.

At seven points, bhakoot is the second-heaviest factor and the second most common source of low totals. That is why understanding its cancellations matters as much as knowing the scoring.

Koota 8: Nadi (8 points)

Nadi is the heaviest single factor in the entire ashtakoota system. The Sanskrit word can mean "channel" or "pulse", and in this context it refers to one of three constitutional currents each nakshatra carries. The three currents are Adi (also called Vata in some accounts), Madhya (also called Pitta), and Antya (also called Kapha).

Two partners in different nadis score 8 points. Two partners in the same nadi score zero and carry nadi dosha. At eight points from a single factor, the tradition is saying something clear: the constitutional resonance between two people, and its effect on their shared vitality and descendants, weighs more than any other single measure.

The cancellations are spelled out in the classical texts and are the subject of the dedicated nadi dosha page. In brief: same Moon sign but different birth stars; same birth star but different quarters (padas); or the same ruling planet for both Moon signs. When any cancellation applies, the dosha is softened and the eight points are no longer read as lost.

Rajju: the factor outside the 36

One important factor sits outside the eight kootas and is weighed especially in South Indian practice: rajju. It arranges the 27 nakshatras along five zones of the body, called siro (head), kantha (neck), udara (navel), kati (waist), and pada (feet). The preference is that the two birth stars fall in different zones. When they share a zone, the overlap is considered an advisory flag, though traditions differ on how seriously to weight it. Rajju is not part of the 36-point count; it is an additional overlay applied alongside guna milan.

Reading the kootas together

The eight kootas are not independent. Graha maitri explicitly informs how bhakoot dosha should be read. Gana points affect the quality of companionship in ways that colour the whole match. The point totals are built to be read as a composition, where the heavier factors call for more attention and the lighter ones fill in fine texture.

A high total with weak nadi and bhakoot is a different reading from the same total with those two strong. A modest total that survives the cancellation checks and shows strong graha maitri and gana may describe two people who fit well. The tradition never intended the score to be read as a single number cut off from the rest; it intended it as a starting map.

To run the full calculation for two charts, the compatibility calculator scores all eight kootas and checks the main cancellation conditions. For the complete picture of what the score leaves out, including the 7th house, Venus, Jupiter, and the navamsa, the kundli matching covers all of it.