Gun Milan Score Checker: Is 18, 24, 28 or 32 out of 36 Good?

Gun Milan Score Meaning: What the Checker Above Tells You

A gun milan score is the number out of 36 that a pandit, a matrimonial site or an app hands you after comparing two horoscopes, and the first question every family asks is whether that number is good enough. The checker above answers it without asking you to re-enter birth details.

Set the slider to the score you were given, tell it whether Nadi dosha or Bhakoot dosha was flagged and whether either partner is Manglik, and it returns the classical band, what that score usually looks like koota by koota, and how the doshas change the reading. It is built for the person who already has a score on paper and wants a second opinion in thirty seconds.

Two things up front. First, the total is the least informative number in a match report; an uncancelled Nadi dosha inside a 30 matters more than the 30. Second, if you do not have a score yet, or you doubt the one you were given, run the free kundali matching calculator with both birth details; it produces the score, the eight-koota table and the dosha cancellations in one go. This page interprets a number; that page produces one.

How to use this gun milan score checker

1. Set the slider to your score out of 36. It moves in half steps, because real reports contain totals like 22.5 or 27.5; half points come from Tara, Vashya and Graha Maitri, explained further down. If two sources gave you different numbers, check each one.
2. Answer the three toggles. Nadi dosha present? Bhakoot dosha present? One partner Manglik? Your report should state the first two plainly, usually as “Nadi: 0/8” or “Bhakoot: 0/7” with a dosha remark. If a report says the dosha is “cancelled” (parihar), leave that toggle off; the checker is asking about an uncancelled dosha.
3. Read the band, then the note under it. The band is the classical verdict for the total. The note is where the toggles do their work: a 30 with Nadi dosha on is described as weaker than a clean 26, and the checker says why.
4. Follow the “check next” line. Depending on what you entered, it points you to the cancellation rules, the individual dosha calculators, or the full matcher to confirm the number.

Gun milan score chart: what 0 to 36 means

The 36 points come from the eight kootas of the Ashtakoota system (ashta = eight), weighted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The bands below are the ones almost every astrologer and every serious calculator agrees on. The Sanskrit labels are the traditional grading words, but note that sources disagree about the labels far more than about the bands.

Score out of 36	Percentage	Traditional label	Verdict	What it usually means
0 – 17	Below 50%	Adhama (weak)	Not recommended on the score alone	Several major kootas at zero; almost always includes a Nadi or Bhakoot dosha. Check cancellations and the full chart before deciding.
18 – 24	50% – 67%	Madhyama (middling)	Acceptable	The classical minimum is met. Most real-world matches land here. One or two kootas score low; the rest are fine.
25 – 32	69% – 89%	Uttama (good)	Good to very good	Strong agreement across most kootas. The only thing that weakens this band is an uncancelled dosha hiding inside it.
33 – 36	92% – 100%	Atyuttama (excellent)	Excellent	Rare. Often means the same or closely related nakshatras. Still says nothing about Manglik or the Lagna.

Two corrections to pages that rank for this topic. One programmatic score site describes 24 out of 36 as “Uttam (excellent)”, “upper-good” and “borderline” on the same page, and adds that a 24 “typically shows strong Nadi (8/8)”. That is wrong on both counts: 24 sits at the top of the acceptable band, not in the excellent one, and a total says nothing about which kootas produced it; a 24 can be a full Nadi with a zero Bhakoot, or the reverse.

Another site labels the whole 18 to 24 band “Adhama”, which literally means inferior. That is the wrong word for the band the classical texts treat as the minimum acceptable match, and it frightens the largest group of real couples for no reason.

How many gunas should match for marriage? The 18-point rule

Eighteen is the number the tradition settled on, and the logic is simple: it is half of 36. Below half, more is disagreeing than agreeing between the two Moons, and the classical advice is not to proceed on the strength of the horoscope alone. At 18 and above, the horoscope is not an obstacle, and other considerations take over.

Astrologers who advise families regularly tend to say that 21 or more feels comfortable and 25 or more is where they stop worrying about the total and look only at the doshas. We wrote a full piece on how many gunas are needed for marriage, and the short answer is: 18 to pass, 24 to be comfortable, and a clean Nadi and Bhakoot at any total.

What the rule does not say is that 17.5 fails and 18 passes in any meaningful sense; the difference is usually one Tara half-point. Treat the boundary as a signal to look harder, not as a verdict. The story of a couple who matched only 14 gunas shows what looking harder actually involves.

Every score explained: 18, 20, 24, 28, 30, 32 and 36 out of 36

These are the totals people search for most. The checker above gives the same reading for every half-step from 0 to 36; these are the landmarks.

18 out of 36

Exactly the classical minimum, 50%. The horoscope neither recommends nor objects. In practice an 18 almost always contains one of the two big doshas, because losing 8 (Nadi) or 7 (Bhakoot) is the usual way to drop this far, so the first job is to find out which koota is at zero and whether a cancellation applies. An 18 with a cancelled Nadi is a very different match from an 18 with an uncancelled one. See what an 18 of 36 match means in detail.

20 out of 36

Comfortably inside the acceptable band at 56%. A 20 is typically a full Nadi (8) and a full Bhakoot (7) with the smaller kootas scoring poorly, or one big dosha with everything else strong. The two look identical in total and are not identical in meaning: the first is a sound match with temperament differences (Gana, Yoni), the second needs a cancellation check. Use the toggles to tell the checker which one you have.

24 out of 36

The most searched score, and the top of the acceptable band at 67%. A clean 24, with Nadi and Bhakoot both full, is a match most astrologers approve without hesitation; it means the 12 missing points are spread across Gana, Yoni, Tara and Graha Maitri, which describe adjustment rather than incompatibility. A 24 that includes a zero Nadi is a different case and needs the cancellation rules. Our page on the 24 of 36 guna match walks through both versions.

28 out of 36

Solidly good at 78%. Reaching 28 without both Nadi and Bhakoot at full marks is arithmetically hard (you would need every other koota near-perfect), so a 28 is usually dosha-free by construction. When the report does show a dosha at 28, it is often a Bhakoot with friendly rashi lords, which cancels. Families at 28 should stop looking at the total and check Manglik, which is outside the 36.

30 out of 36

Very good at 83%, and the score that best illustrates why the toggles exist. A 30 with an uncancelled Nadi dosha is possible (8 lost to Nadi, everything else nearly full, minus a Tara half-point or two), and that 30 is weaker than a clean 26, because the one koota the texts treat as a hard objection is the one at zero. The checker says exactly that when you switch Nadi on at 30. Read what 30 of 36 means for the koota patterns that produce it.

32 out of 36

Near the top of the good band at 89%. Both major doshas are almost certainly absent, and the four missing points are usually Gana or Yoni, which describe how the two temperaments rub along day to day. This is the score at which families sometimes stop checking anything else, which is a mistake: the couple who matched 32 of 36 and could not make it work had a strong score and an unexamined Manglik question.

36 out of 36

Several ranking pages repeat the folklore that a perfect 36 is impossible “except for Ram and Sita”. That is wrong: 36 is simply what the tables return when two people share the same nakshatra and rashi (with different padas, so the Nadi cancellation applies), and most calculators produce it routinely for such pairs. A 36 is excellent, and it is still only a statement about the two Moons. The same nakshatra marriage question is worth reading before treating a 36 as settled.

Why Nadi and Bhakoot dosha matter more than the total

Nadi is worth 8 points and Bhakoot 7, together 15 of the 36, and both are all-or-nothing: full marks or zero. The texts treat these two as the kootas that can carry an objection on their own, which is why they alone have a dosha attached and a set of documented cancellations.

Nadi dosha (both partners in the same nadi: Aadi, Madhya or Antya) is classically linked to health and progeny; Bhakoot dosha (rashis in a 6/8, 2/12 or 5/9 relationship) to money and family harmony. Neither is a prediction; both are rules with exceptions written into the same texts. That is why the checker’s reading changes with the toggles, and why the change is not linear.

Score	Nadi dosha	Bhakoot dosha	Checker’s reading
30	No	No	Very good. Check Manglik and proceed.
30	Yes, uncancelled	No	Weaker than a clean 26. Verify the three Nadi cancellations before anything else.
26	No	No	Good. The missing 10 points are temperament kootas; nothing to cancel.
22	No	Yes, uncancelled	Acceptable total, but a Bhakoot objection stands. Check whether the rashi lords are friends.
20	Yes, uncancelled	Yes, uncancelled	Both major objections present; the 20 remaining points cannot offset them. Get the full chart read.
17	No	No	Below 18 without any dosha is unusual; recheck the birth details, since a wrong nakshatra is the likeliest cause.

The cancellations are the part most reports skip. For Nadi there are three classical ones: same nakshatra with different padas, same rashi with different nakshatras, and the same rashi lord for both. For Bhakoot, the dosha is set aside when the two rashi lords are friends or the same planet. The nadi dosha calculator and the bhakoot dosha calculator check each of these from a dropdown in seconds, and the nadi dosha cancellation rules and bhakoot dosha cancellation guides explain the reasoning. The free Sahita app prints the cancellation that fired, if any, directly under the koota table, which is what this checker cannot do from a bare total.

The 8 kootas, half scores, and why two calculators give different numbers

Koota	Points	What it compares	Half points possible?
Varna	1	Spiritual grade of the two Moon signs	No
Vashya	2	Mutual influence between the two signs	Yes: 0.5 and 1 occur
Tara	3	Count from one nakshatra to the other, both directions	Yes: 1.5 per favourable direction
Yoni	4	Nakshatra animal, friendly or hostile	No
Graha Maitri	5	Friendship of the two rashi lords	Yes: 0.5 and 4 occur
Gana	6	Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa temperament	No
Bhakoot	7	Distance between the two rashis	No, all or nothing
Nadi	8	Aadi, Madhya or Antya nadi	No, all or nothing

Half points are normal, not a sign of a broken calculator. Tara gives 1.5 for each direction of the count that lands on a favourable tara, so 1.5 out of 3 is common; Vashya gives 0.5 when one sign is Manava and the other Jalachara; Graha Maitri has a 0.5 rung when one lord is a friend and the other an enemy. That is how a report ends up at 22.5 or 27.5. One ranking article, incidentally, calls Graha Maitri “Rashi Milan”, which is wrong because Graha Maitri compares the lords of the two signs, not the signs themselves; the sign-to-sign comparison is Bhakoot.

When two calculators disagree by one to three points, it is almost always Tara or Graha Maitri computed from a slightly different table. When they disagree by ten or more, one of them has the wrong nakshatra, usually because of a different ayanamsa (Lahiri and Raman differ by about 1.5°, enough to move the Moon across a nakshatra boundary on roughly one date in nine) or a birth on a day the Moon changed nakshatra.

Our piece on why app and astrologer scores differ covers the diagnosis; the nakshatra finder shows each partner’s nakshatra and how stable it is on their birth date. For the scoring koota by koota, see 36 guna milan explained.

What the score does not include: Manglik, Lagna, Navamsa and dasha

All 36 points come from the two Moons. Nothing in the total reflects the ascendant (Lagna), the houses, Mars, Venus or the Navamsa (D9) chart, which is why a strong score can coexist with a serious problem elsewhere. Manglik dosha is the obvious case: it depends on Mars’ house counted from the Lagna, Moon and Venus, and it is entirely outside the 36. That is why the checker has a Manglik toggle even though Manglik never changes the number.

Switching it on adds a separate line: one Manglik partner is a distinct check, resolved either by a cancellation in the chart or by the other partner also being Manglik, and it should be settled on its own terms rather than folded into a “good score”. The checker cannot know whether a cancellation applies; the manglik calculator works that out from date, time and place, and the manglik dosha guide explains the rules.

The other omission worth knowing about is South India. Many Tamil, Telugu and Kannada families use the 10-porutham system, which weighs Rajju and Dina heavily and does not produce a number out of 36 at all. If your report says “8 out of 10 poruthams”, this checker is the wrong tool; our comparison of 10 porutham vs 36 guna explains how the two systems relate. The Sahita app runs the 36-guna report in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada as well as Hindi and English, which helps when the two sides of a family use different systems and different scripts.

Low score? Three checks before you decide anything

1. Check the cancellations, not the remedies. A low total almost always means a zero in Nadi or Bhakoot. Both have documented cancellations that turn the dosha off entirely, and a cancelled dosha restores the points in most traditions. Do this before anyone mentions a puja.
2. Recheck the birth details. A score below 18 with no dosha flagged is a sign that something upstream is wrong. Confirm each partner’s nakshatra with the rashi calculator, and if a birth time is uncertain, rerun the match with kundali matching without birth time, which shows both scores when the Moon changed nakshatra that day. If the score came from a name-only match, treat it as a guess; the by-name tool is honest about this.
3. Get the full chart read, not just the total. Lagna compatibility, the seventh house and the Navamsa can strengthen a weak Moon match or undermine a strong one. The Sahita app on Google Play gives the full report with Manglik, cancellations and the koota table in 11 Indian languages, which helps when the two families read different scripts.

Our pillar on kundali matching for marriage sets out how families in practice weigh the number against education, temperament and the two people’s own wishes. The score is one input. It was never meant to be the only one.

Frequently asked questions

How many gunas out of 36 is a good match?

Eighteen is the classical minimum, 18 to 24 is acceptable, 25 to 32 is good to very good, and 33 to 36 is excellent. Most practising astrologers are comfortable from about 21 upwards provided Nadi and Bhakoot are clean. A clean 24 is a better match than a 30 carrying an uncancelled Nadi dosha, which is why the checker asks about the doshas and not just the number.

Is 24 out of 36 a good gun milan score?

Yes, if it is a clean 24. It sits at the top of the acceptable band, two-thirds of the maximum, and with Nadi and Bhakoot both at full marks it is a match most astrologers approve. The 12 missing points are usually Gana, Yoni and Tara, which describe temperament and adjustment. A 24 that contains a zero Nadi or zero Bhakoot needs the cancellation rules checked before anyone celebrates.

Does the gun milan score include Manglik dosha?

No. All 36 points are computed from the two Moon positions. Manglik depends on Mars’ house counted from the Lagna, Moon and Venus, and it needs an accurate birth time. A 32 out of 36 says nothing about Manglik either way, which is why the checker carries a separate Manglik toggle that adds a note to the reading without changing the band, and points you to the Manglik calculator for the cancellations.

Why does my gun milan score have a half in it?

Three kootas award half points. Tara gives 1.5 for each favourable direction of the nakshatra count, Vashya gives 0.5 for certain sign pairs, and Graha Maitri has a 0.5 rung when one rashi lord is friendly and the other hostile. Totals like 22.5 or 27.5 are therefore normal. The slider on this page moves in half steps for exactly this reason; enter the half-point total as printed.

Why does my score differ between two websites?

A spread of one to three points is normal and usually comes from Tara or Graha Maitri tables. A spread of ten or more means one site has the wrong nakshatra for a partner, most often because of a different ayanamsa (Lahiri vs Raman) or a birth on a day the Moon changed nakshatra. Confirm both nakshatras first; once those agree, the totals will agree within a point or two.

Can a low gun milan score still lead to a happy marriage?

Yes, and the reverse is also true. The score measures the two Moons and nothing else; couples who matched 14 have done well, and a couple who matched 32 could not make it work. A low score is a reason to check the cancellations, confirm the birth details and read the full chart, not a verdict. Families who treat it as a screening step rather than a judgment tend to make better decisions.

If you do not yet have a score, or want to see the eight kootas behind the one you were given, install Sahita from Google Play; the full 36-guna report with Nadi, Bhakoot and Manglik cancellations is free and works offline. For the deeper reading on what any number means, see our guide to kundali matching score meaning, and if your total came in low, the 12 of 36 guna match page explains what a genuinely weak score looks like and what families have done about it.

Related reading: Mom rejected the match over Nadi dosha: a real story · We ignored Bhakoot dosha: five years later · Kundali by date of birth