Ashtakoot Guna Milan · Pair
Ashwini and Dhanishta nakshatra matching
18–21 of 36 with Ashwini as bride, 20–23 with Dhanishta as bride — then computed again for all sixteen pada combinations.
Ashwini: Adi (Vata) nadi · Horse yoni · Deva gana | Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) nadi · Lion yoni · Rakshasa gana
Ashwini as bride
18–21
of 36
Dhanishta as bride
20–23
of 36
Across all padas
20
one answer
Ashwini and Dhanishta come to 18–21 of 36 with Ashwini on the bride's side and 20–23 with Dhanishta on it. What sits behind those two figures: Bhakoot and Nadi score in full, while Gana (0 of 6), Graha Maitri (0.5 of 5), Tara (1.5 of 3), Yoni (1–3 of 4), Vashya (0–1 of 2) and Varna (0 of 1) do not, and Gana on its own accounts for 6 of the guna that go missing.
A boundary is crossed and the result survives it: Dhanishta runs from Capricorn into Aquarius after pada 2. Varna, Vashya and Bhakoot all read differently either side of it, and yet every one of the sixteen combinations still lands on 20 of 36 on the conservative reading. 120 of the 351 pairs are untouched by the pada altogether; this one is one of 26 touched everywhere except in the total.
Koota by Koota
Pada 1 on each side, and what every koota is reading for Ashwini with Dhanishta. Varna and Gana are the two directional tests, which is why each name gets a column: Varna and Gana differ between them.
| Koota | Ashwini bride | Dhanishta bride | What it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varna / 1 | 0 | 1 | Dhanishta: Vaishya · Ashwini: Kshatriya |
| Vashya / 2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | Dhanishta: Jalachar · Ashwini: Chatushpada |
| Tara / 3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | Counting from Ashwini: Pratyari (5) · from Dhanishta: Sadhaka (6) |
| Yoni / 4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | Dhanishta: Lion · Ashwini: Horse |
| Graha Maitri / 5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Dhanishta: Saturn · Ashwini: Mars |
| Gana / 6 | 0 | 1 | Dhanishta: Rakshasa · Ashwini: Deva |
| Bhakoot / 7 | 7 | 7 | Capricorn and Aries — 10/4 |
| Nadi / 8 | 8 | 8 | Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) · Ashwini: Adi (Vata) |
| Total / 36 | 18–21 | 20–23 | Acceptable |
- Gana, 0 of 6 — Dhanishta: Rakshasa · Ashwini: Deva. Directional: swap the partners and the same two ganas score differently.
- Graha Maitri, 0.5 of 5 — Dhanishta: Saturn · Ashwini: Mars. 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 Ashwini: Pratyari (5) · from Dhanishta: Sadhaka (6). One count of the two is inauspicious and the other is not, which halves the koota.
- Yoni, 1–3 of 4 — Dhanishta: Lion · Ashwini: Horse. Not the same animal, not a hostile pair, so the graded middle.
- Vashya, 0–1 of 2 — Dhanishta: Jalachar · Ashwini: Chatushpada. Neither the same group nor the agreed zero, so the graded middle where lineages differ.
- Varna, 0 of 1 — Dhanishta: Vaishya · Ashwini: Kshatriya. 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 Ashwini’s table and Dhanishta’s.
All Sixteen Pada Combinations
Ashwini runs Aries 0°00′ – 13°20′ 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 53°20′ and 80°00′ apart. Every cell below holds two totals: Ashwini as bride first, Dhanishta as bride second. All sixteen read alike, so the padas can be left out of this one.
| Ashwini ↓ / Dhanishta → | Pada 1Capricorn | Pada 2Capricorn | Pada 3Aquarius | Pada 4Aquarius |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pada 1Aries | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 |
| Pada 2Aries | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 |
| Pada 3Aries | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 |
| Pada 4Aries | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 18 / 20 |
Strict reading of the two disputed kootas throughout. The generous reading of Yoni and Vashya adds 3 guna to every 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
Fifteen of the 36 guna sit in these two, and both are all-or-nothing. Their cancellations are stated specifically enough to be checked for Ashwini and Dhanishta rather than guessed at.
Nadi Koota — 8 of 8
Ashwini is Adi (Vata) 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
Capricorn and Aries — 10/4 — outside the three forbidden distances of 6/8, 5/9 and 2/12, and it stays outside them in all sixteen pada combinations. Bhakoot is full at seven throughout.
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 Ashwini 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 Ashwini to Dhanishta is 23. The two counts always add to 29, so a Mahendra pair holds whichever way round the match is made.
- Stri-Dirgha — satisfied one way. This one is directional in earnest: 23 from Ashwini and 6 from Dhanishta, against a threshold sources give as seven or as nine. It holds with Ashwini as the bride and not with Dhanishta.
Neither test touches the 36. Muhurta nature is a different question again — Ashwini is Kshipra / Laghu (swift and light), 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: 20 of 36 puts Dhanishta 17th among Ashwini's 27 possible partners and Ashwini 13th among Dhanishta's, both on the pada-1 figures those two tables print.
In Ashwini’s table
17th of 27
Dhanishta scores 20 there outright. Ashwini’s 27 partners run from 9 to 32 with a median of 22.5, so this one sits below the middle of what Ashwini can reach — all 27 rows.
In Dhanishta’s table
13th of 27
Ashwini scores 20 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 Ashwini 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: Venus, and what it decides about a marriage and the Kundli Milan guide written from these numbers. The full profiles of the two stars — deities, symbols, temperament, the syllables used for naming — are on the Ashwini page and the Dhanishta page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many guna do Ashwini and Dhanishta score?
Are Ashwini and Dhanishta compatible?
Does the pada change the result for Ashwini and Dhanishta?
Do Ashwini and Dhanishta have Bhakoot dosha?
Is it better for Ashwini to be the bride or the groom?
Run It On the Real Padas
The score is settled for Ashwini and Dhanishta, but the doshas, the seventh house and the running dasha are not — and those are what a chart is for.
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