Question 1

How many gunas out of 36 are needed for marriage?

Accepted Answer

The received rule is a minimum of 18 out of 36. Between 18 and 24 is treated as acceptable, 25 to 32 as a good match, and 33 or more as excellent, which is uncommon. Below 18 the tradition advises caution. It is worth knowing that 18 is a floor and not a target, and that the great majority of matches fall between 18 and 26.

Question 2

We only got 14 gunas. Does that mean the marriage will fail?

Accepted Answer

No. A low total usually comes from one or two rows rather than general incompatibility, because Bhakoot is worth 7 points and Nadi is worth 8 and both are all-or-nothing. Losing just those two takes 15 points off a possible 36, so two charts that agree on the other six kootas can still total 14. There is also no evidence that guna scores predict whether a marriage lasts. Many long and happy marriages score below 18.

Question 3

What is Nadi dosha and can it be cancelled?

Accepted Answer

Nadi dosha arises when both partners fall in the same nadi — aadi, madhya or antya, corresponding to vata, pitta and kapha. It scores zero out of 8. The same tradition defines cancellations: if both share a nakshatra but sit in different rashis, or share a rashi but sit in different nakshatras, or share a nakshatra but in different padas, or if both rashi lords are the same planet, the dosha is held to lapse. Any competent astrologer checks these before pronouncing on it.

Question 4

What is Bhakoot dosha?

Accepted Answer

Bhakoot compares the two Moon signs by counting from each to the other. The combinations 2/12, 5/9 and 6/8 score zero out of 7 and constitute Bhakoot dosha; 1/1, 1/7, 3/11 and 4/10 score the full 7. It is traditionally read as friction in money and household matters rather than in affection. It is cancelled when both rashis share a lord, when the two lords are natural friends, or when both Moons share a nakshatra.

Question 5

Is kundali matching necessary for marriage?

Accepted Answer

That is a personal and family decision, not an astrological one. Ashtakoot compares one factor in each chart — the Moon's position — and the classical texts never treated it as sufficient on its own; they place it alongside the seventh house, the positions of Mars and Venus, the running dashas and the character of the families. If you find the tradition meaningful, use the score as one input. If you do not, no score obliges you.

Question 6

Can kundali matching be done by name only, without a birth time?

Accepted Answer

Not reliably. Ashtakoot needs the Moon's nakshatra in each chart, and the Moon moves roughly half a degree an hour, so it crosses a nakshatra boundary about every two and a quarter days. A name gives at best a guess at the nakshatra through its first syllable. Any site offering name-only matching as an exact result is estimating. Use the birth date, time and time zone.

Question 7

What is Manglik or Mangal dosha, and does it need a tree marriage?

Accepted Answer

Mangal dosha is Mars occupying the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house from the ascendant, and it is a separate matter from the 36-guna score. Its severity depends on which house, which sign, and what aspects Mars receives, and most classical texts list many conditions under which it does not apply at all — including when both partners have it. The kumbh vivah and tree marriage remedies are folk practice rather than anything the classical texts require, and several are demeaning to the woman involved. If someone tells you a marriage is impossible without one, get a second opinion from an astrologer who will explain which cancellation does or does not apply and why.

Question 8

Why do two websites give my match different scores?

Accepted Answer

Three reasons. First, ayanamsa: sites using Lahiri, Raman or Krishnamurti will place a Moon near a boundary in different nakshatras. Second, the half-point rules in Vashya and Tara differ between printed tables, so totals can differ by a point or two. Third, some sites use the South Indian Dashakoot system with ten factors instead of the North Indian Ashtakoot with eight. This page uses Lahiri ayanamsa and standard Ashtakoot, which is what most North Indian astrologers use.

Question 9

Is Kundali Milan valid for a love marriage or an intercaste marriage?

Accepted Answer

The calculation is identical — it reads two Moon positions and knows nothing about how the couple met or what communities they come from. The Varna koota is worth a single point out of 36 and refers to a classification of Moon signs, not to social caste. If a low score is being used to block a marriage you want, note that the arithmetic is dominated by two all-or-nothing rows and that the tradition supplies cancellations for both.

Question 10

Does a 36 out of 36 score guarantee a happy marriage?

Accepted Answer

No, and a perfect score is not necessarily even desirable in traditional terms. A near-perfect Ashtakoot total generally means the two Moons are close together in the zodiac, and some astrologers read that as too much similarity of temperament rather than complementarity. No score can account for character, conduct, or how two families behave.