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In short
Varna koota is the first of the eight Ashtakoot matching factors and is worth one point. It places each Moon sign in one of four classical Varna groups, which follow the element of the sign, and compares the two groups. In this app the result can depend on which chart is entered first, which the engine records as unsettled.
What the term means
Varna koota is the first koota in Ashtakoot matching and the smallest, at one point of 36. It is read from the two Moon signs. Each sign belongs to one of four Varna groups, and the koota compares the two groups. On this site Varna is used only as the name of this classical matching factor; it says nothing about the people being matched.
Where the term comes from
The group of each sign traces to BPHS Ch. 4, which, in describing the twelve rashis, assigns a varna to nine of them and leaves three (Mithun, Makar and Meen) without one. The koota itself, the rule that turns two groups into a score, is not in any text in this app's library; like the other kootas it comes from the published references the project adopted.
How this app computes it
- Each Moon sign is mapped to a group by element: all fire signs share one group, all earth signs another, then air, then water. This follows the nine signs BPHS covers, and gives the other three their element's group.
- The point is awarded by comparing the two groups' places in the koota's fixed order. Equal groups always score 1.
- Because that comparison runs one way, swapping which chart is entered first can change a 1 into a 0. The engine's notes record this as an open question that no adopted reference settles.
- Varna is counted in marriage matching only, not in the business or friendship score.
A small illustration
Aries and Leo are both fire signs, so a Moon at 1 degree of Aries with one at 1 degree of Leo scores the full point in either order. A Moon in Gemini (Punarvasu) entered first with a Moon in Leo (Magha) also scores 1, for a total of 22; entered the other way round, Varna scores 0 and the total is 21. A one-point factor rarely decides a match, but the difference is real, and the app does not hide it.
Pages that use this term
- Kundli matching calculator - shows the Varna point with the other seven.
- Aries and Leo Moon sign compatibility - a pair where Varna always scores 1.
- Aquarius (Kumbha rashi) - a sign BPHS Ch. 4 assigns a varna, used here only inside this koota.
- Libra (Tula rashi) - an air sign and its koota values.
- Compatibility - the fuller two-chart reading.
Related terms
Guna milan, Vashya koota, Agni tattva, Jala tattva and Rashi.
Kundli Matching (Guna Milan)
The classical Ashtakoot score out of 36, computed from two birth dates.
This one has its own page
This one runs on its own page, built for it, where the full result is laid out properly. No account is needed there either.