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Kundli matching explained: what the 36 gunas measure, and what they miss

The 36-point guna score is the most widely used test of marriage compatibility, and the most widely misread. Explore the eight factors behind it, then see what a single score cannot tell you.

The eight kootas, and what each one measures

The 36 points are split across eight kootas (factors). Each block below is sized by its points. Select one to see what it measures.

What the score leaves out

Every one of the eight kootas is worked out from just one point in each chart: the Moon’s nakshatra and sign. Two people can score 30 and have difficult charts for marriage, or score 16 and have charts that support each other well. The score says nothing about:

• the 7th house and its lord, the classical seat of marriage
• Venus, and in a woman’s chart Jupiter, in the traditional view
• the navamsa (D9) of each partner, which confirms or weakens what the birth chart promises
• the strength of the planets involved
• how the two partners’ dasha periods run alongside each other over the coming years

Traditionally 18 of 36 is treated as the minimum for a match. A LotusAstro Compatibility Report explains the score factor by factor, then goes beyond it to the chart-level factors above.

Source: the Ashtakoota system of marriage matching as widely practised in North India; point allocations are standard, though some details of scoring differ between traditions.

More interactive guides: functional benefics and yogakaraka · manglik dosha checker · kundli matching explained · navamsa (D9) finder · houses and lords for each area of life