The eight kootas, and the points each carries

Ashtakoot divides compatibility into eight tests worth 36 points in total. The split is what makes a single total a lossy summary.

• Varna — 1 point. Ego and temperament compatibility.
• Vashya — 2 points. Mutual attraction and influence.
• Tara — 3 points. Birth-star compatibility and wellbeing.
• Yoni — 4 points. Instinctive and physical chemistry.
• Graha Maitri — 5 points. Mental and emotional friendship.
• Gana — 6 points. Temperament grouping.
• Bhakoot — 7 points. Emotional and material wellbeing together.
• Nadi — 8 points. Health and progeny.

Is 18 out of 36 really the minimum?

Eighteen is the number almost every report quotes, and it is a convention — widely followed, and asserted by no text we can cite. We label it that way rather than presenting it as scripture, because a family deciding something this important deserves to know which of the two it is.

What a total cannot tell you, and why

Nadi carries 8 points and Bhakoot 7, and in the tradition each is read on its own rather than folded into the total. That means the total can be silent about precisely the figure families usually ask about directly. The arithmetic is exact: a total of 28 or below can be reached with Nadi at zero, because the other seven kootas hold 28 points between them. A total of 29 forces Nadi above zero but still says nothing about Bhakoot. Only at 30 and above are both of them necessarily non-zero.

What it would take to know more

The eight koota scores behind the total settle what the total leaves open. Both partners' birth details settle the rest, and that is the honest reason to ask for a birth time — not urgency, and not a verdict on anyone's marriage.