Ashtakoota Matching Has Eight Kootas and 36 Points

Ashtakoota has eight kootas and 36 points: varna 1, vashya 2, tara 3, yoni 4, graha maitri 5, gana 6, bhakoot 7, and nadi 8. Varna is a broad type. Vashya is a dominance or attraction class of signs. Tara counts nakshatras in nines and treats Vipat, Pratyari, and Naidhana as the hard steps. Yoni compares the traditional animals of the two nakshatras. Graha maitri asks whether the Moon-sign lords are friends. Gana sorts nakshatras into deva, manushya, and rakshasa. Bhakoot is the sign distance, with 2/12, 5/9, and 6/8 treated as difficult. Nadi sorts into Aadi, Madhya, and Antya, and the same nadi scores 0 of 8. That is the system. It is entirely lunar.

A score of 18 can be a failed nadi plus a failed bhakoot, or a scatter of small losses. The total without the lines is almost useless. A score of 28 with a Manglik Mars is not a clean match, because Manglik is outside the 36. A score of 22 with both 7th lords strong in kendras is a better marriage chart than a 32 with one 7th lord in the 8th. Matching as a product often stops at the number because the number is easy to print. The number is the Moon's summary. Print the lines. Then cast the lagnas if the times exist. Calling the 36 the entire kundali matching repeats a historical shortcut as if it were the whole shastra.

Graha maitri, 5 points, is the part of matching that most resembles a chart reading, because it uses planetary friendship. Saturn's friends are Mercury and Venus. Saturn's enemies are the Sun, the Moon, and Mars. Two Moon signs ruled by enemies lose maitri points. They do not thereby lose their 7th houses. Use the loss as a reason to look at those 7th houses, not as a verdict. The same is true of bhakoot exceptions sometimes claimed when the Moon-sign lords are friends. An exception softens one line. It does not award a marriage. If you remember only one fact, remember that 36 is the Moon, and the spouse is the 7th.