Ashtakoota guna milan — the eight-fold comparison of two birth charts that traditional families ask for before a marriage, scored out of thirty-six. It is worked out from the Moon's position in each chart, so a date of birth and, ideally, a time and place are all that is needed.
If a birth time is unknown, noon gives the right Moon sign on most days; the result flags a day on which the Moon changed nakshatra.
Varna (1) — temperament and outlook. Vashya (2) — mutual influence. Tara (3) — fortune and longevity, from the count between the two nakshatras. Yoni (4) — instinct and intimacy, from the animal symbol of each nakshatra. Graha Maitri (5) — friendship between the lords of the two Moon signs. Gana (6) — nature: deva, manushya or rakshasa. Bhakoot (7) — the distance between the two Moon signs; 2/12, 6/8 and 5/9 are the classical faults. Nadi (8) — the same nadi in both charts is the most serious fault, traditionally linked to health and progeny.
Eighteen or more is the usual threshold; twenty-four and above is considered very good. A low Nadi or Bhakoot score is weighed more heavily than the total in most traditions, and there are recognised exceptions to both. This page gives the arithmetic; whether a match is right is a reading, and a family decision.
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