The 8 Kutas of Guna Milan: How All 36 Gunas Are Actually Scored

Guna Milan scores eight kutas worth 36 points in total: Varna 1, Vashya 2, Tara 3, Yoni 4, Graha Maitri 5, Gana 6, Bhakoot 7 and Nadi 8. Each kuta compares one layer of the two charts, from working temperament to progeny, and all eight are calculated from the Moon's nakshatra and Rashi alone. Eighteen out of 36 is the traditional minimum.

That is the system in short. What the total hides, and what actually decides a match, is which of the eight scored and which did not. Below is each kuta on its own terms.

What is Guna Milan and where does it come from?

Guna Milan, also called Ashtakoot Milan, is the eight-fold comparison used across North India to assess a marriage match. It is set out in the classical muhurta literature, most familiarly the Muhurta Chintamani, and it works from one specific point in each chart: the position of the Moon at birth, meaning the Moon's nakshatra and the Rashi it falls in.

That narrow input is both its strength and its limit. It makes the method fast and consistent, and it is why any free calculator can produce a score in seconds. It also means Guna Milan never looks at the seventh house, the Dasha periods, or the strength of Venus and Jupiter, all of which shape a marriage far more than a number does. The wider method sits in our guide to Kundli matching for marriage.

What are the 8 kutas and how many points does each carry?

#	Kuta	Points	What it compares
1	Varna	1	Working and spiritual temperament
2	Vashya	2	Mutual influence and attraction
3	Tara	3	Fortune, health and wellbeing of each for the other
4	Yoni	4	Physical nature and intimacy
5	Graha Maitri	5	Friendship of the two Moon sign lords, mental affinity
6	Gana	6	Innate disposition and conduct
7	Bhakoot	7	Emotional and material flow between the two lives
8	Nadi	8	Constitution, health and progeny
	Total	36

The weighting is deliberate. The four heaviest kutas, Graha Maitri, Gana, Bhakoot and Nadi, hold 26 of the 36 points between them, while Varna and Vashya together hold three. A match that loses Varna has lost almost nothing. A match that loses Nadi and Bhakoot has lost 15 points and cannot pass 21 even if everything else is perfect.

Kuta 1: What does Varna test? (1 point)

Varna sorts each Moon sign into one of four groups: Brahmin (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), Kshatriya (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), Vaishya (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and Shudra (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius). It has nothing to do with a family's social caste. In this context it describes a working temperament: reflective, assertive, enterprising or practical.

The point is awarded when the groom's Varna is equal to or higher than the bride's in this order. It is worth one guna, the least of all eight, and no experienced astrologer refuses a match on it.

Kuta 2: What does Vashya test? (2 points)

Vashya measures who naturally holds sway over whom. Each Rashi belongs to one of five classes: Chatushpada (four-footed), Manav or Dwipada (human), Jalachara (water-dwelling), Vanachara (wild) and Keeta (insect). Signs in compatible classes score the full two points, partly compatible pairs score one, and classes that are mutually hostile score zero.

Read plainly, Vashya is about pull rather than harm: whether the two people move each other easily or have to push.

Kuta 3: What does Tara test? (3 points)

Tara, sometimes called Dina kuta, is counted rather than looked up. You count from the bride's birth nakshatra to the groom's and divide the count by nine; the remainder gives the Tara. The count is then repeated in the other direction. The 3rd, 5th and 7th taras (Vipat, Pratyari and Vadha) are the inauspicious ones.

Three points are given when both directions land on favourable taras, one and a half when only one direction does, and zero when neither does. Classically Tara speaks to health, fortune and general wellbeing, so it asks whether each person is lucky for the other.

Kuta 4: What does Yoni test? (4 points)

Yoni assigns each of the 27 nakshatras one of 14 animal symbols (horse, elephant, sheep, serpent, dog, cat, rat, cow, buffalo, tiger, deer, monkey, mongoose and lion). It is the kuta concerned with physical nature and intimacy.

The same yoni scores the full four points. Friendly pairs score three, neutral two, unfriendly one, and the classically hostile pairings score zero. The mutually inimical pairs include cow and tiger, elephant and lion, serpent and mongoose, and cat and rat. Zero here does not doom a marriage, but it is worth naming honestly, because it points to differences in physical rhythm and temperament that couples otherwise discover slowly.

Kuta 5: What does Graha Maitri test? (5 points)

Graha Maitri compares the lords of the two Moon signs and asks whether those grahas are friends, neutral or enemies in the natural planetary relationships of Jyotish. Mutual friends score the full five points, a friend paired with a neutral scores four, two neutrals score three, and mutual enemies score zero.

At five gunas this is the first genuinely weighty kuta. It is often described as mental compatibility, and the classical sense is closer to affinity of outlook: whether the two minds meet on what matters, or reason from different premises.

Kuta 6: What does Gana test? (6 points)

Gana divides the 27 nakshatras into three temperaments: Deva (godly, gentle and refined), Manushya (human, mixed and worldly) and Rakshasa (assertive, forceful and strong-willed). Nine nakshatras fall into each.

The same gana scores the full six points. Deva with Manushya scores six or five depending on the school, Manushya with Rakshasa scores zero or one, and Deva with Rakshasa scores zero. This is Gana dosha, and it is the kuta that speaks to conduct and daily friction, not to disaster. A Rakshasa gana person is not a bad person; the classification describes force of will, and the tradition holds that two very different dispositions need more conscious patience.

Kuta 7: What is Bhakoot dosha? (7 points)

Bhakoot compares the distance between the two Moon signs, counted both ways. Three relationships are considered afflicted:

• 2/12, Dwirdwadash. Traditionally linked to strain over money and household matters.
• 5/9, Navpancham. The mildest of the three, linked to differences over children and belief.
• 6/8, Shadashtak. The most seriously regarded, linked to health and emotional distance.

Any of these scores zero out of seven; every other relationship scores the full seven. Because Bhakoot is all-or-nothing and carries seven gunas, it is the single largest cause of a score falling below 18.

It is also one of the most commonly cancelled. The classical exceptions include the two Moon signs being ruled by the same graha, or their lords being natural friends (Bhakoot dosha and its exceptions). A Taurus and Libra pair, for instance, shares Venus as lord. Whether the cancellation applies is a judgement about the actual charts, not something a calculator should be trusted to decide.

Kuta 8: What is Nadi dosha? (8 points)

Nadi is the heaviest kuta at eight points and the one families worry about most. Each nakshatra belongs to one of three nadis, drawn from the same idea as the Ayurvedic constitutional types:

Nadi	Constitutional type	Concerns
Aadi	Vata	Beginning, movement, nervous energy
Madhya	Pitta	Middle, heat, metabolism
Antya	Kapha	End, structure, fluid and stability

If the two people fall in different nadis, all eight points are given. If they share the same nadi, the score is zero and the match is said to carry Nadi dosha, classically associated with health of the couple and with progeny.

Traditional cancellations are widely accepted. The commonly cited ones are the pair sharing the same nakshatra but different Moon signs, or sharing the same Moon sign while their nakshatras differ, and some schools add cancellation when both have the same nadi but the nakshatra padas differ. Schools do disagree, which is precisely why this should be checked by a person against the two charts rather than accepted from an app.

One point of proportion matters here. Nadi dosha is a traditional indication to examine carefully, not a medical finding, and nothing in a Kundli should be treated as a prediction about anyone's health. It is a flag that asks for a closer reading.

How many gunas are good, and what does the score really mean?

Score out of 36	Traditional reading
Below 18	Not recommended without a careful review of the whole chart
18 to 24	Acceptable, the usual working range
25 to 32	Good compatibility
33 to 36	Excellent and rare

Two matches can both score 20 and be nothing alike. A 20 built from full Nadi and Bhakoot, with the loss falling on Yoni and Gana, is a very different proposition from a 20 that fails Nadi outright. This is the single most useful thing to understand about Guna Milan: read the breakdown, not the headline.

It is also why a low score is not a refusal. Where a dosha stands uncancelled, the classical response is a considered remedy and honest counsel, not a rejection. A chart is a diagnosis, not a sentence.

What Guna Milan does not check

Guna Milan is built entirely on the Moon. It says nothing about:

• Mangal Dosha, which is judged from Mars and assessed separately. See what Mangal Dosha actually means.
• The seventh house and its lord in each chart, the primary significators of marriage itself.
• Venus and Jupiter, which carry the marriage significations for the two partners.
• The Dasha periods each person is running, which govern the timing of a marriage. See Mahadasha and the Vimshottari cycle.
• The longevity and strength of the two charts overall.

A match can score 30 gunas and still show a difficult seventh house in one chart. It can score 17 and be entirely workable once the doshas are read properly. Any assessment that ends at the number has stopped halfway.

How to use the eight kutas sensibly

Look up your score by all means, then treat it as the beginning of a conversation. Ask which kutas failed, whether any cancellation applies, and what the rest of both charts says. Where a real concern shows, ask what the tradition offers by way of remedy, and expect a plain answer rather than fear.

Guna Milan has lasted centuries because it is a disciplined, repeatable way to open that conversation. It was never meant to close it. If you are considering a match, you can read how marriage matching is done here or see what a full matching includes.