Kundli Milan: What the 36 Gunas Mean, and Why the Total Is Not Everything
10 October 2026 · 2 min read
When a marriage is discussed, one of the first questions is often how many gunas match? The answer is a number out of 36. Here is what that number is made of, and why it should never be read alone.
The eight kootas
Guna milan, also called ashtakoota matching, compares the Moon’s sign and nakshatra in the two birth charts in eight ways. Each way — each koota — carries a set number of points:
- Varna — 1 point: temperament and outlook.
- Vashya — 2 points: mutual influence and attraction.
- Tara — 3 points: the harmony of the two birth nakshatras.
- Yoni — 4 points: nature and intimacy.
- Graha Maitri — 5 points: friendship between the lords of the two Moon signs.
- Gana — 6 points: temperament as deva, manushya or rakshasa.
- Bhakoot — 7 points: the relation between the two Moon signs.
- Nadi — 8 points: constitution; the heaviest koota.
Together they make 36.
What 18 means
By long tradition, 18 or more is taken as the minimum for a match to be considered, and higher scores as better. But the total hides more than it shows.
Why the total is not everything
Two kootas, Nadi and Bhakoot, can each bring a serious dosha when they score zero:
- Nadi dosha — when both share the same nadi.
- Bhakoot dosha — when the Moon signs stand in certain relations to each other (such as 6th and 8th from one another).
A score of 28 with Nadi dosha is weaker than a score of 22 without it. That is why a good matching shows each koota and each dosha, not only the sum.
Classical texts also give cancellations (parihara) for these doshas — for example, when certain lords are the same or friendly. When a dosha is cancelled, the reason should be named, so a family can check it.
Mangal dosha
Matching usually also looks at Mangal dosha: Mars in certain houses of the chart. Most traditions check the 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th and 12th houses, and many in the south add the 2nd. It is checked from three points — the lagna, the Moon and Venus — and for both people. When both charts carry it, it is traditionally considered balanced (dosha samya).
How to read a matching
- Look at the doshas first, then the total.
- Where a dosha is said to be cancelled, see which rule cancels it.
- Matching is one part of a conversation between two families. An experienced astrologer will also look at the full charts, the dashas and the people themselves.
In short
- 36 points come from eight kootas; Nadi (8) and Bhakoot (7) are the heaviest.
- 18 is the traditional minimum, but doshas matter more than the total.
- Mangal dosha is checked from the lagna, the Moon and Venus, for both charts.