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Compatibility

Ashtakoot

Ashtakoot (Ashtakoot Milan, or Guna Milan) is the eight-factor compatibility scoring system of Vedic matchmaking. It compares two birth charts on Varna, Vashya, Tara, Yoni, Graha Maitri, Gana, Bhakoot and Nadi, awards up to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 points respectively, and adds them into a total out of 36. It is built almost entirely from each partner's Moon sign and Nakshatra.

Ashtakoot is also called Guna Milan, Ashta Koota or "36 gun matching", and in Devanagari is written अष्टकूट, "eight koota" or eight factors. It is not the whole of matchmaking: Manglik status and a full comparison of both charts are read alongside the score.

Ashtakoot illustration

What is Ashtakoot Milan?

Ashtakoot Milan ("eight-factor matching") is the most widely used compatibility system in Vedic matchmaking, comparing two birth charts across eight categories (koota) and summing the results into a single score out of 36. It is built almost entirely from the Moon's Rashi and Nakshatra in each chart, which is why an accurate Moon placement in both matters more to this system than any other single factor. You can score a pair for free with the Guna Milan.

What are the eight factors and their points?

The eight koota, with the maximum points each contributes to the 36-point total, are: Varna (1 point, temperament and spiritual compatibility), Vashya (2, mutual influence and control), Tara (3, health and general wellbeing), Yoni (4, physical and instinctual compatibility), Graha Maitri (5, planetary friendship between the two Moon-sign lords), Gana (6, temperament grouping), Bhakoot (7, the Moon-sign distance factor), and Nadi (8, health and genetic compatibility). 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 36. Bhakoot and Nadi carry the heaviest weight, and each can flag as a dosha: see Bhakoot Dosha and Nadi Dosha.

What is a good Ashtakoot score?

A frequently cited rule of thumb treats scores of 18 and above out of 36 as an acceptable match, with lower scores read as less favourable. This threshold is a convention, not a fixed classical law, and different regional traditions and astrologers apply different cut-offs. The distribution of points also matters: two charts scoring the same total can differ significantly in which koota contributed the points. When a low score still works looks at couples who fell below the usual line.

What are the limits of a single Ashtakoot number?

A composite score out of 36 compresses eight very different comparisons into one number, and a shortfall driven by a lower-weight koota such as Varna or Vashya is read very differently from the same shortfall coming from Nadi or Bhakoot. Classical practice also recognises cancellation conditions for individual doshas within the system, and many astrologers weigh the full picture, which factors passed, which failed, and why, well above the headline number. How the eight points actually work walks through each one.

Ashtakoot at a glance

  • Ashtakoot checks 8 factors: Varna (1 point), Vashya (2), Tara (3), Yoni (4), Graha Maitri (5), Gana (6), Bhakoot (7) and Nadi (8), for 36 points in total.
  • The system is built almost entirely from the Moon's Rashi and Nakshatra in each chart.
  • 18 out of 36 is a commonly cited, though not universally fixed, threshold for an acceptable score.
  • Bhakoot and Nadi both carry dosha conditions that some traditions treat separately from the raw point total.
  • Regional traditions can differ slightly on the acceptance threshold and on which cancellation conditions apply.
  • Because it is built from Moon-based factors, it can usually be calculated from an approximate birth time.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ashtakoot matching?

Ashtakoot Milan compares two birth charts across eight classical compatibility factors, mostly derived from each partner's Moon Rashi and Nakshatra, and sums them into a score out of 36, used as one input into traditional Vedic marriage matchmaking. The higher the total, the closer the match is traditionally judged to be.

What is a good Ashtakoot score?

18 out of 36 is the threshold most commonly cited as acceptable, but this is a convention rather than a fixed classical rule, and different astrologers and regional traditions apply it with varying strictness. Which specific factors contributed the score often matters as much as the total.

Which Ashtakoot factor matters most?

Nadi (8 points) and Bhakoot (7 points) carry the most weight and can each independently flag as a dosha regardless of the overall total, which is why many astrologers look at those two factors specifically rather than relying on the combined score alone.

Does a low Ashtakoot score mean a marriage will fail?

Not necessarily. Classical practice recognises cancellation conditions for several of the individual doshas within the system, and a low total driven mainly by lower-weight factors is generally read very differently from one driven by Nadi or Bhakoot. Context matters more than the raw number.

Is Ashtakoot the only compatibility system in Vedic astrology?

It is the most widely used, but not the only one. Some traditions also weigh Manglik status, Nakshatra-Pada matching, and a broader comparison of the two full birth charts, not just the two Moon placements Ashtakoot relies on, particularly when the Ashtakoot result alone comes back borderline.

How do I check my Ashtakoot score?

Enter both partners’ birth details in a Guna Milan calculator. It compares the two Moon signs and Nakshatras across the eight koota and returns the points for each factor plus the total out of 36. Kundli Saathi offers the 36-point score free, without signup.

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See where Ashtakoot shows up in your own chart — generate your free kundli.

Related terms

  • Bhakoot Dosha

    Bhakoot Dosha is the flag raised when the Bhakoot factor of Ashtakoot scores zero, because the two Moon signs sit in a problematic relative position — specifically 6/8 or 9/5 from each other (2/12 also scores zero). Modern practice considers many mitigants before treating it as disqualifying.

  • Nadi Dosha

    Nadi Dosha is the Ashtakoot flag raised when both partners' Moon Nakshatras fall under the same Nadi (Aadi, Madhya or Antya). Nadi is worth 8 of the 36 points, the most of any factor, and it scores all or nothing.