This guide explains each koota and its points, Nadi and Mangal Dosha, where the authorities disagree, and what the score honestly means, with the printed source beside every claim.
The Short Answer
What kundli matching is
Kundli matching, also called Guna Milan or Ashtakoota, is a method in jyotisha for checking the compatibility of two birth charts before marriage. It scores the match out of 36 points across eight factors, and the classical rule is that the couple’s total should come to more than half, that is more than 18. The text it comes from is the Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, composed in Shaka 1522, which is 1600 CE. Families weigh the result very differently, some treating it as the deciding factor and some as one consideration among values, temperament, family and circumstance.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948). Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The system compares the Moon sign, or rashi, and the birth star, or nakshatra, of each person. Those are taken from the date and place of birth. A birth time is needed for the house-based judgements that sit alongside the score, such as Mangal Dosha, which B. V. Raman reckons from the rising sign as well as from the Moon and Venus, and the rising sign cannot be found without a time. The eight factors, called kootas, each carry a different weight, and the points add up to a score out of 36.
Source: Mahidhar Sharma (Hindi tika), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Daivajna Ramacharya, Hindi tika by Mahidhar Sharma; Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Hindi commentary and Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
This guide explains each of the eight kootas, what the classical texts say about reading the total, the doshas families ask about, and an honest view of what the number can and cannot tell you. It also says where the authorities disagree, because they do: the commentary relied on here gives two different sets of bands, and the cut-offs most matching websites quote are in neither of them. It is written to inform, not to prescribe. Whether a family treats kundli matching as central, as one consideration, or not at all is a personal choice, and a good matchmaker respects that choice either way.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948). Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
This guide describes a tradition. It is not astrological advice and it is not a prediction. Every statement about what the tradition says names the printed edition it came from, what kind of authority that edition is, and the date we last read it. A guna score is a traditional calculation that families follow, and no study has shown that it forecasts how a marriage will go, so nothing here tells you what will happen to a couple. Where two authorities disagree, this page says so rather than choosing one for you.
The Eight Factors
The eight kootas
Ashtakoota means eight aspects, and each koota carries its own maximum points. Varna, worth 1 point, grades the two rashis on the four varnas, and the rule in the text is that a bride of higher varna than the groom is not approved by the learned. Vashya, worth 2, asks which of the two signs is held to be subject to the other, which Raman glosses as the degree of control one partner would be able to exercise over the other. Tara, worth 3, is a count between the two birth stars, with three of the nine possible remainders read as inauspicious. Yoni, worth 4, is read in the tradition as physical and sexual compatibility. We report these meanings as the texts give them, which is not the same as endorsing them: the first two are about rank and subordination, and describing them instead as temperament and mutual attraction, as this page once did, misreports the doctrine rather than respecting it.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Mahidhar Sharma (Hindi tika), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Daivajna Ramacharya, Hindi tika by Mahidhar Sharma; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author and Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The remaining four carry the greater weight. Graha Maitri, worth 5, turns on whether the lords of the two rashis are friendly, and the Mahidhar Sharma commentary awards the full 5 when they are friends or the same planet. One caution for anyone checking that against a scan: the summary line in that edition reads Graha Maitri as 4, which is a scanning error, contradicted by its own running prose and by both other editions read for this page. It is 5. Gana, worth 6, sorts the birth stars into three classes and compares them. Bhakoot, worth 7, turns on the positions of the two Moon signs relative to each other, and the outcomes the texts attach to it are material ones such as wealth, poverty, longevity and children. Nadi, worth 8, is the highest scoring of the eight, and Raman defines it as pulse or nervous energy, standing for physiological and to some extent hereditary factors. Added together, the eight kootas give a score out of 36.
Source: Mahidhar Sharma (Hindi tika), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Daivajna Ramacharya, Hindi tika by Mahidhar Sharma; Mahidhar Sharma (Hindi tika), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Daivajna Ramacharya, Hindi tika by Mahidhar Sharma; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Two of the kootas dominate the total. Nadi at 8 points and Bhakoot at 7 together make up 15 of the 36 points, which is 41.7 per cent, so how a chart scores on these two moves the number more than any other pair does. That is the largest share held by any two kootas and it is not a majority: the other six hold 21 of the 36 points between them. The two doshas the texts treat at greatest length sit in exactly these two factors. The Maniprabha commentary gives five named cancellations for an impure Bhakoot, scores Bhakoot at zero in its own worked example, and holds that Nadi purity is required in every case.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948). Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Ashtakoota is the eight-koota system, and it is not the only one. The Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna sets the eight aside from a ten-koota scheme known in other regions, saying it treats the eight because those are the ones well known where it was written. That edition also spells the eight point values out in Sanskrit words rather than digits, which is how the numbers here were checked against the digit lists in the other editions. B. V. Raman, writing from South India in 1948, sets out a twelve-factor scheme and calls the units of agreement poruthams. He is blunt about how they get used, calling the practice of rejecting horoscopes simply because they do not conform to certain poruthams defective and dangerous when the more important factors go unweighed. So a family told a different number of factors by a different astrologer is not being misled. They are being given a different regional system.
Source: Govinda Daivajna (Piyushadhara), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna with the Yuktimanjari commentary and Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna; Govinda Daivajna (Piyushadhara), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna with the Yuktimanjari commentary and Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit edition and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Reading The Score
Reading the total
Once the eight kootas are added up, the total is read against a threshold and then in bands, and a few specific patterns, called doshas, are looked at more closely. The bands are not uniform across authorities.
The threshold
The classical rule is that the couple total should come to more than half of 36, that is more than 18, before a marriage is settled. The Maniprabha commentary states it in those terms, so it is more than 18 rather than at least 18.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948). Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The bands, which vary
Above the threshold the bands are not the same in every authority. The Maniprabha commentary reads under 16 as poor, 16 to 20 as middling, 20 to 30 as good and 30 to 36 as best, and applies a stricter scale of 20, 25 and 30 where Bhakoot is impure. It backs both with a quoted verse.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948). Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The 24 and 32 cut-offs
The familiar figures of 24 for a good match and 32 for an excellent one are a modern popular convention with no classical authority behind them. No named authority read for this page states either number, and the commentary that does give bands gives 16, 20 and 30 instead. A family comparing two reports may therefore see one total described in two different ways.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948). Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Nadi Dosha
When both partners have the same Nadi, that koota scores zero. This is called Nadi Dosha. The Maniprabha commentary says such a marriage is not auspicious, treats Nadi as the principal koota and requires its purity in every case, and Raman calls it the most important and most significant of the kootas, which is why it is read as the most serious of the doshas.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Bhakoot Dosha
Certain relative positions of the two Moon signs make Bhakoot score zero, which is read as Bhakoot Dosha. The outcomes the texts attach to it are material ones. Raman, for example, reads one relative position as great poverty and its mirror image as great wealth, so this is not the modern language of emotional harmony.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Mangal Dosha
Being Manglik is when Mars sits in certain houses, and it is looked at separately from the 36-point count rather than as part of it. Authorities differ on the list. The Piyushadhara explanation gives the 1st, 12th, 4th, 7th and 8th. Raman gives the 2nd, 12th, 4th, 7th and 8th, reckoned from the rising sign, the Moon and Venus. The six-house list in common use combines the two.
Source: Govinda Daivajna (Piyushadhara), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna with the Yuktimanjari commentary and Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit edition and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Remedies and cancellations
The texts describe conditions under which some doshas are considered reduced or cancelled. The Maniprabha commentary lists five for an impure Bhakoot. Raman writes that Mangal Dosha cancels when both charts carry it, and sets out conditions under which the evil of Nadi may be ignored. Reading the total on its own therefore does not reflect what the tradition itself prescribes.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Where Authorities Differ
What the texts disagree about
There is no single settled set of cut-offs, and a page that prints one set as though there were is misleading a family who may be shown another. Three schemes are in play. The first is the half-way rule itself, more than 18 out of 36, which the Maniprabha commentary states plainly. The second is that same commentary’s band scheme where Bhakoot is clean: under 16 poor, 16 to 20 middling, 20 to 30 good, and 30 to 36 best. The third is the stricter scheme it applies where Bhakoot is impure: up to 20 poor, 20 to 25 middling, 25 to 30 good, and 30 upward best. Both band schemes are backed there by a quoted verse. The familiar 24 and 32 figures belong to none of the three, and this page used to print them as tradition.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948). Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
The Mangal Dosha house list is the same kind of problem. The Piyushadhara explanation quotes the verse as lagne vyaye cha patale jamitre chashtame kuje, which gives the 1st, 12th, 4th, 7th and 8th houses and no 2nd. Raman quotes the same verse as dhane vyaye cha pathale jamitre chashtame kuja, which gives the 2nd, 12th, 4th, 7th and 8th and no 1st. The six-house list of 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 and 12 that circulates widely, and that this page carried until now, is the two readings added together. It is not what either authority says, and taking both at once means one of the two disputed houses is wrong while neither text lets you say which.
Source: Govinda Daivajna (Piyushadhara), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna with the Yuktimanjari commentary and Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit edition and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
Raman adds four qualifications that matter a great deal to a family who has been told a chart is Manglik. He reckons the houses from three points, the Lagna for the body, the Moon for the mind and Venus for relations, rather than from the rising sign alone. He holds that the dosha is cancelled when both the bride’s and the bridegroom’s charts carry it. He records that so far as his own experience goes, only one regional tradition, the Kerala sastra, mentions Kuja Dosha at all. And he writes that it does not deserve the consideration now being paid to it. That is not a sceptic writing from outside the tradition. It is the author of a standard 1948 manual on electional astrology, and every one of those four points lowers the stakes.
Source: Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
One more thing has to be said plainly, and it sits outside the tradition rather than inside it. A guna score is not a forecast of how a marriage will go. When astrological compatibility was tested against Swedish population registers covering 1968 to 2001, the researchers reported that the results fail to provide any consistent evidence that astrologically more compatible couples are either overrepresented among marriages or at lower risk of divorce, and that their results support none of the classifications they evaluated. That study looked at Western sun signs, not at Guna Milan, and Guna Milan has never been tested that way, so it is not a refutation of Ashtakoota. What it does mean is that nobody has shown any astrological compatibility measure to predict a marriage, and the honest place to say that is on the same page that explains the system.
Source: Jonas Helgertz and Kirk Scott, Lund University and University of Minnesota, in Genus (SpringerOpen), The validity of astrological predictions on marriage and divorce: a longitudinal analysis of Swedish register data, Genus 76:34 (2020); Jonas Helgertz and Kirk Scott, Lund University and University of Minnesota, in Genus (SpringerOpen), The validity of astrological predictions on marriage and divorce: a longitudinal analysis of Swedish register data, Genus 76:34 (2020). Jurisdiction: Not law. Peer-reviewed demographic research on Swedish population registers. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
What The Number Means
The score is a starting point
It is easy to treat the total out of 36 as a verdict, but the texts themselves do not read it that way. Which kootas scored low matters as much as the total. The Maniprabha commentary holds that Nadi purity is required in every case, so a high total with an unresolved Nadi Dosha is not read there as a clean match, and the same commentary sets out five named cancellations for an impure Bhakoot instead of letting the number stand alone. Raman goes further, holding that the units of agreement should be considered only where there is general sympathy between the two horoscopes taken as wholes.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
A low total is also not treated as a closed door inside the tradition. The texts describe remedies and cancellations for several doshas: five named ones for an impure Bhakoot in the Maniprabha commentary, and in Raman the cancellation of Mangal Dosha where both charts carry it. Raman also holds that longevity and the strength of the seventh and eighth houses belong before the units of agreement, not after them. Whatever a family makes of the system, that is a reminder that the number was never meant to be read on its own, and an automated total from a website is precisely the reading that strips out everything the texts ask for.
Source: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948); Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage; Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage. Jurisdiction: Not law. Classical Jyotisha doctrine, published Sanskrit text with Hindi commentary and Not law. Twentieth-century Jyotisha monograph by a named author. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
In our own work we see families weigh it differently. For some it is central and a low total would end a match. For others it is one input among many, checked for peace of mind but not decisive. For others it plays no part at all. None of these positions is wrong. What matters is that both families are honest with each other about how much weight they give it, early, so it does not become a surprise later. How the families in our own register record manglik status, as each family gives it, is set out in The Evara Families Report 2026, linked under Related reading below.
Evara describing its own practice. This is not a statement of law.
How We Approach It
Respecting the family’s choice
At Evara we treat kundli matching the way we treat the rest of a family’s wishes: as something to understand and respect, not to judge. If horoscope compatibility is important to your family, we make sure it is part of the conversation from the start, so matches are considered with that in mind and neither family is disappointed late in the process. If it is not important to you, we do not impose it. The cost of raising it early is a longer first conversation, and we think that is a fair trade for not discovering a mismatch of expectations after two families have met. For most Brahmin families gotra is central to how an alliance is considered, and our page on Brahmin matchmaking sets out how gotra and the kundli come into that search.
Evara describing its own practice. This is not a statement of law.
What we never do is let a number stand in for the harder, more human work of matchmaking. A guna score cannot tell you whether two people share values, whether two families will get along, or whether a candidate is who they say they are. Those are the things careful profiling, verification, and honest conversation are for. Kundli matching, where a family wants it, sits alongside that work, and the guide on how matchmaking works explains the rest of the picture.
Evara describing its own practice. This is not a statement of law.
Where This Came From
Sources, with the date we read them
Every claim above points to one of these. Each entry names the authority, what kind of authority it is, the date we last read it, and the sentence we actually read.
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: वणे, २ वश्य, ३ तारा, ४ योनि, ५ ग्रहमैत्री, ६ गणमेत्री, ७ भकूट और ८ नाड़ी ये ८ प्रकारके कूट हैं
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: अर्थात् वर्णका = १ गुण | वश्यके = २। ताराके = ३ । योनिके = ४। म्रः _ -मैश्रीकेटष, । गणमैत्रीके-६ । भकूटके=७ और नाड़ीके=८ गुण होते है ॥२१॥
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: इन आठों कूटोंका शुणयोग ३६ दै, जिसमें अर्धाधिक (१८ से अधिक ) वर -कन्याका गुणयोग आने पर दोनोंका विवाद किया जाता दै, अर्धाल्पमें नहीं ।
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: यदि वरकन्याका भकूट शुद्ध दो तो भी १६ से कम शुरोक्य निन्दित होते हैं । १६ से २० तक मध्यम, २० से ३० तक उत्तम और ३० से ३६ तक उत्तमोत्तम होते हैं । परन्तु दुष्ट भकूट में २० तक निन्दित, २० से २५ तक मध्यम, २५ से ३० तक श्रेष्ट -और ३० से १६ तक उत्तमोत्तम होते हें ।
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: गुणेः पोड़शाभिनिन्दयं मध्यमा चिशतिरुतथा । थे न्रिंशदू गुणं यावत्, परतस्तृत्तमोत्तमस ॥ सञ्चकूट इति सेयं, दुटकुरे तु चान्यथा । निन्द्यं गुणेविशतिमिसंघ्यं बाणाधिक्ै्मतस् ॥
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: वरस्य वर्णतः अधिका ( अधिकवर्णा ) वधूः बुधैः न शास्यते ॥ २२॥
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: इसलिये नव-पश्व क भकूटका गुण शून्य ० मिला ॥ ३१॥
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: दुष्ट भकूट रहने पर 'एकाधिपत्य १, राशीशमैत्री २, नवाँशपतिकी मैत्री ३, वारा शुद्धि ४, और राशिवश्यता ५, ये पांच प्रकारके परिद्दार बताये गये हें।
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: यदि वर-कन्या दौनोंकी एकही नाड़ी हो तो विवाह शुभ नहीं होता.
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: वर-कन्याकी .गणनामें वणे आदि ८ कूटं बनाये गये हें जिनमें साते प्रधान नाडीको हो माना गया दै भर्थात् इर दाल्तमें नाडीको शुद्धि अवश्य चाश्यि।
- Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Banaras; ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna, Vivaha Prakarana, with the Maniprabha commentary, ed. Pt. Kapileshwar Shastri (Banaras, 1948)
What it says: शाके १५२२ में इस प्रन्थकी रचनाकी ।
- Govinda Daivajna (Piyushadhara), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna with the Yuktimanjari commentary and Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna
What it says: यथा वणंमेज्यामेको गुणः, वश्ये दौ. गणौ, तारायां जयो गणाः, योनिमैऽ्यां चत्वारः, ग्रहभेऽ्यां पञ्च, गणमेज्यां षट्, सद्धकटे सप्त, ना- डीमेदेऽष्टावित्यथः।
- Govinda Daivajna (Piyushadhara), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna with the Yuktimanjari commentary and Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna
What it says: तत्र द्शक्रुरटानां तत्तदेश विशं षभ्रसिद्धत्वात्तानि विहाय स्वदेशपरसिः दान्यष्टक्रटानि सलच्तणानि
- Govinda Daivajna (Piyushadhara), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Rama Daivajna with the Yuktimanjari commentary and Piyushadhara explanation of Govinda Daivajna
What it says: लग्ने व्यये च पाताले जाभि्रे चाष्टमे कुजे
- Mahidhar Sharma (Hindi tika), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Daivajna Ramacharya, Hindi tika by Mahidhar Sharma
What it says: वरकन्याकं राशी मित्र तथा एकाधिपत्यके हो तो ५ गुण
- Mahidhar Sharma (Hindi tika), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Daivajna Ramacharya, Hindi tika by Mahidhar Sharma
What it says: इस कूटमे गणसाम्यमें ६ गुण
- Mahidhar Sharma (Hindi tika), digitised edition on the Internet Archive, Muhurtacintamani of Daivajna Ramacharya, Hindi tika by Mahidhar Sharma
What it says: शेषको तारा जाननी, ३।५५।७ शेष, रहे तो अशुभ अन्य शुभ होते हं, भसे (३) गुण मिलते हं
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: A girl belonging -to a higher grade of spiritual development -should not ho mated to a hoy of lesser^
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: This is important as sug- gesting the degree of magnetic control or amenability the wife oi\ husband would be able to exercise on the other.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: The number of units for Yam Kuta is 4.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: Therefore the Yoni Kuta takes into account tlie sexual'aspeot of marriage and indicates the sex affinities such as the degree of sex-urge,' sex-compatibility
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: The number of units for Rasi Kuta is 7,
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: 12. Nadi Kuta This is the most important and at the same time the most significant Kuta.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: The unit ascribed for this Kuta is 8.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: In Sanskrit Nadi means several things but in reference to astrology, it signifies pulse or nervous energy indicating the physiological and to a certain extent hereditary factors.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: (4) The evil due to Nadi Kuta can be ignored subject to tlic following conditions
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: If the boy’s Basi falls in the fourth from that of the girl’s then there be will great poverty ; but if the Basi of the girl happens to fall in the 4th from the boy’s there will be great wealth.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: If Mars is in 'the 2nd, 12th, 4th, 7th, and 8th houses in the' horoscope of the female, the death of husband, will occur; similar situation in the husband’s ‘horoscope causes the death of wife.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: The Lagna represents body, the Moon mind and Venus sexual* relations. Therefore the houses have to be reckoned .with refern ce to all the three, viz., Lagna, Moon and Venus.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: If Kuja Dosharn obtains in the horoscopes of both the bride and bridegroom the dosharn gets cancelled.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: Thus it will be seen that Kuja Dosha does not deserve that consideration which is now being paid to it.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: So far as our humble experience goes it is only in the kerala sastra that mention is made of Kuja Dosha.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: (c) Agreeability in regard to the Kutas commonly designated as Puruthtliam.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: The exist- ing practice almost all over India and particu- larly in South is highly defective and dangerous as horoscopes arc rejected simply because they do not conform to certain puruththas, while the most important factors such as longevity.
- Bangalore Venkata Raman, Muhurtha (Electional Astrology), first edition 1948, chapter on Marriage
What it says: The puruthtlias or tlio units of agreement should be considered only when there is genera) sympathy between the horoscopes of the parties to be brought together.
- Jonas Helgertz and Kirk Scott, Lund University and University of Minnesota, in Genus (SpringerOpen), The validity of astrological predictions on marriage and divorce: a longitudinal analysis of Swedish register data, Genus 76:34 (2020)
What it says: The results fail to provide any consistent evidence to support the notion that astrologically more compatible couples are either overrepresented among observed marital unions or associated with a lower risk of divorce.
- Jonas Helgertz and Kirk Scott, Lund University and University of Minnesota, in Genus (SpringerOpen), The validity of astrological predictions on marriage and divorce: a longitudinal analysis of Swedish register data, Genus 76:34 (2020)
What it says: Our results do not provide evidence in support of any of the classifications evaluated in this article.
