The eight kootas and what each one weighs
Ashtakoot Milan assigns different weights to different kinds of compatibility. The heaviest weights sit on Nadi and Bhakoot, which is why those two dominate most conversations about matching.
- Varna (1 point) - broad temperament and work orientation
- Vashya (2 points) - mutual influence and natural pull between the two
- Tara (3 points) - birth-star compatibility, counted both ways
- Yoni (4 points) - physical and instinctive compatibility
- Graha Maitri (5 points) - friendship between the two Moon-sign lords, read as mental affinity
- Gana (6 points) - temperament class: deva, manushya, or rakshasa
- Bhakoot (7 points) - the distance between the two Moon signs, read for household harmony
- Nadi (8 points) - constitutional grouping, traditionally linked to progeny
What the score actually tells you
Convention in much of India treats 18 out of 36 as a working threshold, with 25 and above considered strong. Those are conventions, not rules found uniformly across classical texts, and reputable astrologers apply them with judgement rather than arithmetic alone.
A high score is not a guarantee and a low score is not a verdict. Guna Milan looks almost entirely at the Moon. It says nothing about the seventh house, the seventh lord, the condition of Venus and Jupiter, the Navamsa, or whether the two people's Dasha periods run compatibly over the next decade. Those factors matter at least as much, and a matching report that ignores them is incomplete by design.
Nadi and Bhakoot dosha in proportion
When Nadi or Bhakoot score zero, the tradition calls it a dosha - a flaw in that specific dimension of the match. This is where families most often panic, and where the most damage is done to otherwise sound relationships.
Classical practice includes recognised exceptions. Several texts hold that Nadi dosha is cancelled or reduced when the two share the same rashi but different nakshatras, or the same nakshatra with different padas, among other conditions. Bhakoot dosha has its own set of cancellations. Traditions differ on the details, and a competent astrologer weighs the whole chart before calling a match unworkable. Dasha reports the score honestly and flags where cancellations are classically discussed - it does not turn a single koota into a verdict.
- Nadi dosha and Bhakoot dosha are koota-level findings, not conclusions about the relationship
- Cancellation rules exist in the tradition and vary between schools
- A full reading looks at the seventh house, Venus, Jupiter, the Navamsa, and Dasha timing
Mangal Dosha in a matching context
Dasha shows Mangal Dosha status for both charts alongside the Guna score, because it is the question most people ask next. Mangal Dosha is assessed from the position of Mars relative to the lagna, with several traditions also reckoning from the Moon or Venus.
The important and frequently omitted point is that when both charts carry the dosha, most traditions consider it neutralised. Many cancellation conditions are also recognised - certain signs, certain aspects, Mars in its own or exaltation sign, and age-related factors, depending on the school. If you want the full picture, the Mangal Dosha page covers it in detail.
How to use a matching report well
Treat the report as one input into a human decision. It is a structured way to start a conversation, not a filter to run people through. In arranged-marriage contexts across India, Guna Milan often functions as a first screen; that is a social convention, and it is worth knowing what the screen does and does not measure.
Dasha gives you both charts side by side, the koota-by-koota breakdown, and the ability to ask Dasha AI why a particular koota scored the way it did. You get the reasoning, not just a number out of a black box.
How matching is practised across India
Ashtakoot Milan is the dominant system in north and west India. In much of the south, practitioners more often use Dashakoota, a ten-factor system that shares several components with Ashtakoot but weights them differently and scores out of a different total. Neither is a corruption of the other - they are parallel regional traditions with long independent histories.
This matters if you are comparing reports. A match assessed by a family astrologer in Coimbatore and one generated on a north Indian model can differ, and both can be internally consistent. Dasha computes the 36-point Ashtakoot system, says so plainly, and shows the koota-level working, so you can see exactly what produced the number instead of being handed a total with no derivation.
- Ashtakoot - eight kootas, 36 points, standard in north and west India
- Dashakoota - a ten-factor system widely used in south India
- Scores from different systems are not directly comparable