Gun milan
Kundli matching for marriage — all 36 gunas, free
A rishta has come and the whole house wants to know the gunas. Enter both birth details and you get all 36 points, every one of the eight kootas explained in words you can repeat at home, and an honest note on what the score cannot see. Free, and nothing is saved.
What Gun Milan actually measures
Gun Milan, also written Guna Milan or Ashtakoot Milan, is the compatibility test used in most Indian marriage discussions. It compares the position of the moon in the two birth charts across eight headings, called kootas. Each koota carries its own weight, from 1 point for Varna up to 8 for Nadi, and the weights add up to 36, which is where the phrase “36 gunas” comes from.
The eight tables come from the Ashtakoota chapter of the Muhurta Chintamani and are reproduced in B. V. Raman’s Muhurtha. We follow those tables directly, and the score you see here is arithmetic on two moon positions computed by our own calculation engine, not a template with names substituted in.
It is worth being clear about what the test does not do. Gun Milan is a screening tool built on the moon alone. An astrologer sitting with two families looks at the seventh house and its lord, at Mangal dosha, at the dashas each person is running, and at a good deal more besides. Treat the number as the opening of that conversation.
The eight kootas and their points
- Varna1
- Temperament and attitude to work.
- Vashya2
- How naturally each one gives way to the other.
- Tara3
- Well-being and fortune in each other’s company.
- Yoni4
- Physical and instinctive comfort together.
- Graha Maitri5
- Friendship between the two moon-sign lords, meaning mental and emotional understanding.
- Gana6
- Basic nature: gentle, worldly or forceful.
- Bhakoot7
- Household life and prosperity together.
- Nadi8
- Constitution, health and children.
- Total36
- The eight weights run 1 to 8 and sum to 36 by construction.
What families ask us
How many gunas are needed for marriage?
Modern practice usually quotes 18 out of 36 as the figure to look for, and 25 and above is considered a strong count. The 18-point line is a convention, not a rule from the classical texts, and an astrologer reading both full charts routinely proceeds with a lower total or looks more closely at a higher one.
What is Nadi dosha?
Nadi is the heaviest koota at 8 points, and it scores zero when both moons fall in the same nadi: Aadi, Madhya or Antya. Because it is all-or-nothing, a shared nadi is the single most common reason a match totals below 18. Traditional practice recognises several conditions that cancel it, so it is a question to put to an astrologer rather than a conclusion on its own.
What is Bhakoot dosha?
Bhakoot is worth 7 points and looks at the distance between the two moon signs. The 2/12, 5/9 and 6/8 axes score zero and are called Bhakoot dosha. Like Nadi it is all-or-nothing, and classical texts treat it as a point to examine in a full reading.
Do I need the exact birth time for kundli matching?
Not to the minute. Gun Milan is calculated from the moon’s nakshatra, and the moon takes roughly a day to cross one nakshatra, so an hour of uncertainty seldom changes the score. A birth time that is wrong by many hours can shift it, and the exact time does matter for a full birth chart reading.
What is Manglik dosha, and when is it cancelled?
Manglik, also called Mangal dosha, is Mars falling in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house. The count is made three times over, from three separate reference points:
- from the lagna, the rising sign
- from the Moon
- from Venus
Most charts that look Manglik are not, once the recognised cancellations are counted, and when both people carry the placement the standard matchmaking rule reads the two as settling each other. Enter both birth details above and this page checks all three references on each chart, then reads them against one another. It is the one thing the 36-point count never looks at.
Is a low score final?
No. Ashtakoota compares two moon positions and nothing else. It does not look at the seventh house or its lord, at Mangal dosha, at the running dashas, or at anything either person actually does. A low total is a reason to have both charts read properly, not a verdict on a relationship.
Whether the match came through family or a matrimony site like Jeevansathi or Shaadi, the score is only the opening of the conversation. Once you have it, you can pick the wedding date or ask Panditji about the result.
Kundli matching is offered here as traditional guidance and for interest. It is not advice, not a prediction, and not a statement about any real relationship. Please do not make a decision about a marriage on the strength of a score from a website. Speak to an astrologer who can read both charts in full, and to the two people concerned.