Ashtakoot Guna Milan · Pair
Ashlesha and Dhanishta nakshatra matching
26–28 of 36 with Ashlesha as bride, 27–29 with Dhanishta as bride — then computed again for all sixteen pada combinations.
Ashlesha: Antya (Kapha) nadi · Cat yoni · Rakshasa gana | Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) nadi · Lion yoni · Rakshasa gana
Ashlesha as bride
26–28
of 36
Dhanishta as bride
27–29
of 36
Across all padas
18–27
spread of 9
Ashlesha and Dhanishta come to 26–28 of 36 with Ashlesha on the bride's side and 27–29 with Dhanishta on it. What sits behind those two figures: Vashya, Gana, Bhakoot and Nadi score in full, while Graha Maitri (0.5 of 5), Tara (1.5 of 3), Yoni (1–3 of 4) and Varna (0 of 1) do not, and Graha Maitri on its own accounts for 4.5 of the guna that go missing.
A swing of 9 guna separates the best and worst cells in the grid below — 18 at the bottom, 27 at the top. The cause is a boundary inside the four padas: Dhanishta runs from Capricorn into Aquarius after pada 2. Since Varna, Vashya, Graha Maitri and Bhakoot are all read from the Moon rashi rather than from the star, which puts 15 of the 36 guna on that boundary, which side of it the Moon fell on is not a detail.
Koota by Koota
Pada 1 on each side, and what every koota is reading for Ashlesha with Dhanishta. Varna and Gana are the two directional tests, which is why each name gets a column: Varna differs between them.
| Koota | Ashlesha bride | Dhanishta bride | What it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varna / 1 | 0 | 1 | Dhanishta: Vaishya · Ashlesha: Brahmin |
| Vashya / 2 | 2 | 2 | Dhanishta: Jalachar · Ashlesha: Jalachar |
| Tara / 3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | Counting from Ashlesha: Sadhaka (6) · from Dhanishta: Pratyari (5) |
| Yoni / 4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | Dhanishta: Lion · Ashlesha: Cat |
| Graha Maitri / 5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Dhanishta: Saturn · Ashlesha: Moon |
| Gana / 6 | 6 | 6 | Dhanishta: Rakshasa · Ashlesha: Rakshasa |
| Bhakoot / 7 | 7 | 7 | Capricorn and Cancer — 7/7 |
| Nadi / 8 | 8 | 8 | Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) · Ashlesha: Antya (Kapha) |
| Total / 36 | 26–28 | 27–29 | Good |
- Graha Maitri, 0.5 of 5 — Dhanishta: Saturn · Ashlesha: Moon. Five guna ride on how the two sign lords regard each other, more than any other single test.
- Tara, 1.5 of 3 — Counting from Ashlesha: Sadhaka (6) · from Dhanishta: Pratyari (5). One count of the two is inauspicious and the other is not, which halves the koota.
- Yoni, 1–3 of 4 — Dhanishta: Lion · Ashlesha: Cat. Not the same animal, not a hostile pair, so the graded middle.
- Varna, 0 of 1 — Dhanishta: Vaishya · Ashlesha: Brahmin. The groom's rank has to reach the bride's and does not. One guna, and no tradition treats it as disqualifying.
Half-guna figures are exact rather than rounded. Each koota’s rule is set out in full on Ashlesha’s table and Dhanishta’s.
All Sixteen Pada Combinations
Ashlesha runs Cancer 16°40′ – 30°00′ and Dhanishta runs Capricorn 23°20′ – Aquarius 6°40′ — two arcs 13°20′ wide, each divided into four padas of 3°20′, which puts the two Moons anywhere between 160°00′ and 180°00′ apart. Every cell below holds two totals: Ashlesha as bride first, Dhanishta as bride second. The cells are not all the same, which is the point of printing them — 17 at the lowest and 27 at the highest.
| Ashlesha ↓ / Dhanishta → | Pada 1Capricorn | Pada 2Capricorn | Pada 3Aquarius | Pada 4Aquarius |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pada 1Cancer | 26 / 27 | 26 / 27 | 17 / 18 | 17 / 18 |
| Pada 2Cancer | 26 / 27 | 26 / 27 | 17 / 18 | 17 / 18 |
| Pada 3Cancer | 26 / 27 | 26 / 27 | 17 / 18 | 17 / 18 |
| Pada 4Cancer | 26 / 27 | 26 / 27 | 17 / 18 | 17 / 18 |
Strict reading of the two disputed kootas throughout. The generous reading of Yoni and Vashya adds between 2 and 3 guna, depending on the cell. All sixteen combinations clear the conventional threshold of 18. Dimmed cells fall below it; the nakshatra finder returns the pada from a birth date, time and place.
The Two Doshas, and Whether They Are Cancelled
Nadi and Bhakoot between them decide the shape of a result more than the total does — and both come with classical relief clauses that two named birth stars are enough to test.
Nadi Koota — 8 of 8
Ashlesha is Antya (Kapha) and Dhanishta is Madhya (Pitta). Different nadis take the full eight guna, and since Nadi alone is more than a fifth of the total, this pair starts from a position 108 of the 351 pairs never reach.
Bhakoot Koota — 7 of 7 at pada 1
In 8 of the sixteen pada combinations, the two Moon signs stand at one of the three forbidden distances and Bhakoot gives nothing. Neither cancellation is available — the sign lords are Moon and Saturn, neither the same planet nor mutual friends.
A cancellation is relief, not a score adjustment — the koota still reads zero above. The doshas Ashtakoot does not test for are a separate question — Mangal dosha among them.
Two Tests Outside the 36
The South Indian reckoning runs to ten kootas, and two of the extras are counts between Ashlesha and Dhanishta alone — so they can be given here and checked by hand.
- Mahendra — absent. Mahendra wants every third star from the fourth — 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 — and Ashlesha to Dhanishta is 15. The two counts always add to 29, so a Mahendra pair holds whichever way round the match is made.
- Stri-Dirgha — satisfied both ways. This one is directional in earnest: 15 from Ashlesha and 14 from Dhanishta, against a threshold sources give as seven or as nine. It holds either way round here.
Neither test touches the 36. Muhurta nature is a different question again — Ashlesha is Tikshna (sharp), Dhanishta is Chara (movable) — and it governs what each star suits doing, not who it marries.
How the Pair Ranks on Each Side
A total carries meaning against the alternatives rather than on its own, and the alternatives differ for the two stars: 27 of 36 puts Dhanishta 3rd among Ashlesha's 27 possible partners and Ashlesha 3rd among Dhanishta's, both on the pada-1 figures those two tables print.
In Ashlesha’s table
3rd of 27
Dhanishta scores 27 there outright. Ashlesha’s 27 partners run from 9.5 to 28 with a median of 18, so this one sits above the middle of what Ashlesha can reach — all 27 rows.
In Dhanishta’s table
3rd of 27
Ashlesha scores 27 there outright. Dhanishta’s 27 partners run from 6.5 to 29.5 with a median of 19, so this one sits above the middle of what Dhanishta can reach — all 27 rows.
What This Total Is Not
Across every pairing of two Moon positions that can exist, 63.6% clear 18 and the median total is 20.5, so clearing the conventional bar is the ordinary result rather than a distinction. The ceiling is 35, not 36 — no pairing of Ashlesha and Dhanishta or of anything else reaches a perfect score, and a site reporting one has added something to the arithmetic.
Written rather than computed, and worth the longer read: the 36 guna taken one koota at a time and what the Navamsa adds that Guna Milan cannot. The full profiles of the two stars — deities, symbols, temperament, the syllables used for naming — are on the Ashlesha page and the Dhanishta page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many guna do Ashlesha and Dhanishta score?
Are Ashlesha and Dhanishta compatible?
Does the pada change the result for Ashlesha and Dhanishta?
Do Ashlesha and Dhanishta have Bhakoot dosha?
Is it better for Ashlesha to be the bride or the groom?
Run It On the Real Padas
The grid above narrows Ashlesha and Dhanishta to sixteen answers between 18 and 27. Two birth times pick one of them.
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