Guna milan reads two numbers: where the bride's Moon sits, and where the groom's sits. Nothing else goes in. So the eight kootas can be scored exactly, and the full set of possible scores can be scored too.
There are only 38 stretches of sky across which no koota changes its answer. That makes 1,444 pairs, each weighted by how much of the circle it covers. Here is what they come to.
What counts as a good guna milan score?
Conventionally 18 of 36. Across every possible pairing the average is 20.6, and 68.1% reach 18 — so two pairings in three clear the threshold on the arithmetic alone. It separates far less than it is usually taken to.
20.6 / 36
the average score
Across all 1,444 pairs. The lowest possible is 2.5, the highest 36.
68.1%
reach 18 or more
The conventional threshold. Two pairings in three clear it on the arithmetic alone.
68.8%
score zero on Nadi or Bhakoot
The two kootas that score nothing rather than something when they clash.
Read those two figures together. The same arithmetic that passes two thirds of all pairings also hands two thirds of them a dosha. Both are properties of the rule. Neither is a finding about anybody.
| Score | Share of all pairs |
|---|---|
| 2.5 to 11.5 | 7.7% |
| 12 to 17.5 | 24.3% |
| 18 to 23.5 | 32.8% |
| 24 to 29.5 | 31.6% |
| 30 to 36 | 3.7% |
Bands rather than every half point, because the score moves in halves and a 60-row table answers nothing. The shares are of the whole circle of Moon positions, not of the 729 named pairs.
Half of all pairs score zero on Bhakoot
Bhakoot counts the signs from one rashi to the other, both ways, and scores nothing for three of those counts. For any given rashi that is six of the twelve it could be paired with — so 50%, exactly.
Nadi works the same way. Three nadis share the 27 nakshatras nine each, and Nadi scores nothing when both share one, so 33.3%. Neither number is unusual. Both are what the tables were built to do.
A Nadi or Bhakoot dosha is the ordinary outcome of the rule, not a rare thing the rule found in you.
Why do most nakshatra pairs have no single score?
Because the nakshatra does not settle the rashi. A nakshatra is 13°20′ wide and a rashi is 30°, and the two do not line up, so nine of the 27 nakshatras are cut in half by a sign boundary. Four of the eight kootas read the rashi.
- Krittika
- Mrigashira
- Punarvasu
- Uttara Phalguni
- Chitra
- Vishakha
- Uttara Ashadha
- Dhanishta
- Purva Bhadrapada
If your Moon is in one of those nine, naming the nakshatra does not say which rashi you are in. And four of the eight kootas read the rashi: Varna, Vashya, Graha Maitri and Bhakoot.
Two more are split for a second reason. Vashya changes group half way through Dhanu and Makara, which cuts Purva Ashadha and Shravana. That leaves 16 of the 27 nakshatras that settle their own inputs.
The effect is large. Punarvasu with Mrigashira scores as little as 18.5 and as much as 31.5 — 13 guna apart, with the same two nakshatras named. All that changed is where inside each nakshatra the Moon sat.
| Where the Moons sit | Score out of 36 |
|---|---|
| The pairing at its lowest | 18.5 |
| The pairing at its highest | 31.5 |
One of those clears the conventional 18 by half a point. The other is read as an excellent match. A table with one number against this pair of names has picked one of them and not said so.
Questions people ask about guna milan
How many guna are needed for marriage?
The convention is 18 of 36, and it separates less than it is usually taken to: across every possible pair of Moon positions, 68.1% already reach 18. The average is 20.6. A number that two pairings in three clear is a floor, not a filter.
Is 36 out of 36 guna possible?
Yes — 36 of 36 is the highest any pairing scores, and the lowest possible is 2.5. Only 3.7% of all pairings land in the top band, so a very high score is uncommon rather than impossible.
What is Nadi dosha, and how often does it happen?
Nadi is the eighth koota, worth 8 points, and it scores zero when both people share a nadi. Three nadis divide the 27 nakshatras nine each, so it zeroes for 33.3% of all pairings — a third of everybody, by the structure of the table.
What is Bhakoot dosha?
Bhakoot counts the signs from one rashi to the other, both ways, and scores nothing for three of those counts. For any given rashi that is six of the twelve it could be paired with, so it zeroes for 50% of pairings. Half, exactly, by the rule.
Does guna milan check the whole kundli?
No. It reads the Moon's nakshatra and nothing else. It does not look at the 7th house, its lord, Shukra (Venus), Mangal (Mars) or the dashas — the things a practitioner would actually weigh for a marriage.
Is a low guna milan score a reason not to marry?
No. A high score is not a verdict and a low one is not a prohibition. The count is an arithmetic comparison of two Moon positions, and it is the most common way this subject gets used against real people.
Can the same two nakshatras give different scores?
Yes, and for 445 of the 729 pairs. A nakshatra is 13°20′ and a rashi is 30°, so nine nakshatras are cut by a sign boundary and the rashi is not settled by the nakshatra name. Punarvasu with Mrigashira scores anywhere from 18.5 to 31.5.
What this does not cover
- Guna milan looks at the Moon's nakshatra and nothing else. Not the 7th house, not its lord, not Venus, not Mars, not the dashas — the things a practitioner would actually weigh for a marriage.
- A high score is not a verdict and a low one is not a prohibition. This is the single most common way this subject is used against real people, usually against women.
- Nadi dosha is classically cancelled in several cases — the pair sharing a rashi with different nakshatras, sharing a nakshatra with different rashis, or sharing a nakshatra in different padas. This study scores the raw kootas and applies no cancellation.
- The shares are of Moon positions spread evenly round the circle. Real births are not quite even, because the Moon moves faster at some points of its orbit than others.
- One ayanamsa, Lahiri. A different one moves every placement near a boundary, and boundaries are what this whole post is about.