Gun milan · गुण मिलान
Kundli matching for marriage
Gun Milan is the eight-part, 36-point method families across India use to weigh two horoscopes before a marriage. Enter both birth details to see the full score, with every one of the eight kootas explained in plain language. Free, and nothing is saved.
What Gun Milan is
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
- Varna · वर्ण1
- Temperament and attitude to work.
- Vashya · वश्य2
- How naturally each one gives way to the other.
- Tara · तारा3
- Well-being and fortune in each other’s company.
- Yoni · योनि4
- Physical and instinctive comfort together.
- Graha Maitri · ग्रह मैत्री5
- Friendship between the two moon-sign lords — mental and emotional understanding.
- Gana · गण6
- Basic nature: gentle, worldly or forceful.
- Bhakoot · भकूट7
- Household life and prosperity together.
- Nadi · नाड़ी8
- Constitution, health and children.
- Total36
- The eight weights run 1 to 8 and sum to 36 by construction.
Common questions
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.
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.
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.