Nakshatra matching (Guna Milan): the eight kootas, explained koota by koota

Nakshatra matching is the common name for Ashtakoot, also called Guna Milan: a way of comparing two people's Moon positions through eight separate tests, or kootas, worth 36 points in all. This page explains how this app's engine scores each koota, where each rule comes from, and which parts of the score are open questions. It is the hub for 78 pages, one for every pair of Moon signs, each of which shows what that pair fixes and what it leaves to the nakshatras.

To score two real people, use the Kundli matching calculator or the match tool. Both read the Moon's sign and nakshatra from each birth chart and apply the rules below. If you are unsure of your own nakshatra, the nakshatra calculator finds it, and Moon sign and nakshatra explains the difference between the two.

Where the rules come from

The honest starting point is a negative. None of the classical books in this app's library, BPHS, Saravali, the Bhrigu Sutras or Advanced Predictive Astrology, contains the Ashtakoot rules. A search of all four for koota, kuta, bhakoot, nadi, gana, yoni and melapaka finds no matching system. The engine's header comment says so directly, and records that the owner authorised published web references instead, adopting a rule only where independent references agree and keeping the engine's earlier behaviour where they do not.

BPHS does supply two ingredients. Its sign descriptions in Ch. 4 give the classes the engine uses for Varna, and its natural planetary relationships in Ch. 3 Sl. 55 give the friendships the engine uses for Graha Maitri. Everything else, the point values, the Bhakoot distances, the Gana table, the animal pairs for Yoni, comes from the engine's web references or from the engine's own longstanding tables.

The eight kootas and how each score is computed

The engine's KOOTA_DRIVER table records which Moon input each koota reads. Four read the Moon sign and together carry 15 points; four read the Moon's nakshatra and carry 21. A Moon sign covers two and a quarter nakshatras, so two people who share a sign pair can still differ in every nakshatra koota.

Varna (1 point)

The engine assigns each Moon sign a class by element: fire Kshatriya, earth Vaishya, air Shudra, water Brahmin. BPHS Ch. 4 names a class for nine signs and the engine's table matches those nine; Mithun, Makar and Meen, which BPHS leaves unclassified, take their element's value. The comparison is one-directional, so for many pairs the point depends on who is entered first. The engine's header lists this as an unresolved question. Here, as on every page in this series, Varna is only the koota's name and the text's sign classification; it ranks no one.

Vashya (2 points)

Each Moon sign belongs to a numbered Vashya group in the engine's table. The same group scores 2, neighbouring groups 1, and anything further 0.5. Capricorn and Leo each sit in a group of their own.

Tara (3 points)

The engine counts from one birth star to the other, inclusively, in both directions. A count whose remainder after dividing by nine is 3, 5 or 7 is unfavourable. Favourable both ways scores 3, one way 1.5, neither way 0. For some sign pairs, such as Aries with Gemini, every combination gives 1.5. See Tara koota.

Yoni (4 points)

Each nakshatra carries an animal: Ashwini the Horse, Bharani the Elephant, Krittika the Sheep, and so on through the 27. The same animal scores 4; one of the seven listed enemy pairs (Cat and Rat, Lion and Elephant, Cow and Tiger, Horse and Buffalo, Dog and Deer, Monkey and Sheep, Serpent and Mongoose) scores 0; anything else 2. See Yoni koota.

Graha Maitri (5 points)

This compares the lords of the two Moon signs using the natural friendships of BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 55. Each lord's view of the other is friend, neutral or enemy, and the pair of views sets the score. Three values changed in October 2026 when the engine's references agreed (friend-neutral 3 to 4, neutral-neutral 1 to 3, enemy-enemy 1 to 0); two, friend-enemy and neutral-enemy, were kept because the references disagree. See Graha Maitri koota.

Gana (6 points)

Every nakshatra is Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa in the engine's table. These are the system's technical labels and not descriptions of character. The same Gana scores 6, Deva with Manushya or Manushya with Rakshasa 3, and Deva with Rakshasa 0. The header is candid that its references disagree on every cross-Gana value, some using a bride-and-groom table the engine cannot apply because it has no such input. See Gana koota.

Bhakoot (7 points)

Bhakoot counts from one Moon sign to the other, inclusively, both ways. If either count is 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 12, the koota scores 0; otherwise 7. The 5/9 case scored 7 until October 2026 and now scores 0, following two references that agree. It is the largest sign koota, and a 0 here is often called Bhakoot dosha. See Bhakoot koota.

Nadi (8 points)

Each nakshatra falls in one of three Nadi groups, Aadi, Madhya or Antya. Different groups score the full 8; the same group scores 0, which the engine notes as "traditionally flagged; worth discussing openly". It is the heaviest koota of all, and two Moons in the same nakshatra always share a Nadi. Nadi dosha explains the tradition around it, and Nadi koota gives the short definition.

What a Moon-sign pair fixes, and what it leaves open

Each pair page in this series runs every nakshatra quarter of one sign against every quarter of the other, 81 pairings, and reports the lowest, median and highest totals. A few examples show how widely the ranges differ:

Two lessons follow. First, a sign pair sets a band, not a score: Taurus with Libra runs from 9.5 to 25. Second, the order of entry can matter. Wherever the two signs have different Varna values, swapping the two people moves every pairing by exactly one point, because Varna is the only koota in the engine that is not symmetric.

Worked example: Aries 1 degree with Cancer 1 degree

Take one Moon at 1 degree of Aries, in Ashwini, and the other at 1 degree of Cancer, in Punarvasu. Entered Aries first, the engine gives:

The four sign rows give 12.5; the four nakshatra rows give 9.5. One row, Nadi, costs 8 points on its own, and it is the row that depends most on the exact star. Move the Cancer Moon a few degrees on into Pushya and Nadi would score 8. The full story of this pair is on the Aries and Cancer page.

What a Guna Milan score does not tell you

A total out of 36 measures how two Moon positions meet one traditional rule set. It does not describe either person, and this app does not set a pass mark, give a verdict on marriage or prescribe remedies. Several of the rules are themselves unsettled, as the engine's header records: the Varna order, the cross-Gana values, two Graha Maitri values. A different but equally published rule set could give the same couple a different total.

Many families also check Mars placement, which is separate from Ashtakoot; Mangal dosha: what it is and is not explains it. For a lighter comparison outside the koota system there is the love compatibility calculator.

All 78 Moon-sign pair pages

Each pair is listed once, earlier sign first. Same-sign pairs come first in each row.

• Aries Moon with: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Taurus Moon with: Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Gemini Moon with: Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Cancer Moon with: Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Leo Moon with: Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Virgo Moon with: Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Libra Moon with: Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Scorpio Moon with: Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Sagittarius Moon with: Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Capricorn Moon with: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
• Aquarius Moon with: Aquarius, Pisces.
• Pisces Moon with: Pisces.

What is nakshatra matching?

Another name for Ashtakoot or Guna Milan: eight kootas comparing two people's Moon signs and Moon nakshatras, worth 36 points in total.

Can I get a score from Moon signs alone?

Only partly. The sign fixes Varna, Vashya, Graha Maitri and Bhakoot (15 points). Tara, Yoni, Gana and Nadi (21 points) need the nakshatras, which need a birth time.

Are these rules from BPHS?

No. None of the classical books in this library contains Ashtakoot. BPHS supplies the sign classes and planetary friendships the engine uses; the point rules come from web references named in the engine.

Why does the score change when we swap names?

Varna compares the first person's class value with the second's and is not symmetric. For pairs with different Varna values, the order moves the total by one point.

What score is good enough?

This app does not set one or give a verdict on marriage. The match tool shows each koota so you can see what drives your number.