Ashtakoot Guna Milan · Pair

Ashwini and Punarvasu nakshatra matching

16–19 of 36 with Ashwini as bride, 17–20 with Punarvasu as bride — then computed again for all sixteen pada combinations.

Ashwini: Adi (Vata) nadi · Horse yoni · Deva gana | Punarvasu: Adi (Vata) nadi · Cat yoni · Deva gana

Ashwini as bride

16–19

of 36

Punarvasu as bride

17–20

of 36

Across all padas

17–20.5

spread of 3.5

Ashwini and Punarvasu come to 16–19 of 36 with Ashwini on the bride's side and 17–20 with Punarvasu on it. What sits behind those two figures: Gana and Bhakoot score in full, while Nadi (0 of 8), 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 Nadi on its own accounts for 8 of the guna that go missing.

Two birth stars are not enough for this pair. Punarvasu runs from Gemini into Cancer after pada 3, and 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 — so the total follows, anywhere from 17 to 20.5 of 36 depending on the padas. At 3.5 guna the swing sits above the median of 2, in a range reaching 14 at its widest.

Koota by Koota

Pada 1 on each side, and what every koota is reading for Ashwini with Punarvasu. Varna and Gana are the two directional tests, which is why each name gets a column: Varna differs between them.

Ashtakoot koota scores for Ashwini with Punarvasu at pada 1 on both sides, shown separately for each partner on the bride’s side, with the values each koota reads.
Koota	Ashwini bride	Punarvasu bride	What it reads
Varna / 1	0	1	Punarvasu: Shudra · Ashwini: Kshatriya
Vashya / 2	0–1	0–1	Punarvasu: Manav · Ashwini: Chatushpada
Tara / 3	1.5	1.5	Counting from Ashwini: Vadha (7) · from Punarvasu: Kshema (4)
Yoni / 4	1–3	1–3	Punarvasu: Cat · Ashwini: Horse
Graha Maitri / 5	0.5	0.5	Punarvasu: Mercury · Ashwini: Mars
Gana / 6	6	6	Punarvasu: Deva · Ashwini: Deva
Bhakoot / 7	7	7	Gemini and Aries — 3/11
Nadi / 8	0	0	Punarvasu: Adi (Vata) · Ashwini: Adi (Vata)
Total / 36	16–19	17–20	Below the conventional threshold

Nadi, 0 of 8 — Punarvasu: Adi (Vata) · Ashwini: Adi (Vata). The heaviest koota in the system, all or nothing.
Graha Maitri, 0.5 of 5 — Punarvasu: Mercury · 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: Vadha (7) · from Punarvasu: Kshema (4). One count of the two is inauspicious and the other is not, which halves the koota.
Yoni, 1–3 of 4 — Punarvasu: Cat · Ashwini: Horse. Not the same animal, not a hostile pair, so the graded middle.
Vashya, 0–1 of 2 — Punarvasu: Manav · Ashwini: Chatushpada. Neither the same group nor the agreed zero, so the graded middle where lineages differ.
Varna, 0 of 1 — Punarvasu: Shudra · 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 Punarvasu’s.

All Sixteen Pada Combinations

Ashwini runs Aries 0°00′ – 13°20′ and Punarvasu runs Gemini 20°00′ – Cancer 3°20′ — two arcs 13°20′ wide, each divided into four padas of 3°20′, which puts the two Moons anywhere between 66°40′ and 93°20′ apart. Every cell below holds two totals: Ashwini as bride first, Punarvasu as bride second. The cells are not all the same, which is the point of printing them — 16 at the lowest and 20.5 at the highest.

Ashtakoot totals out of 36 for Ashwini with Punarvasu across all sixteen pada combinations, each cell giving Ashwini as bride then Punarvasu as bride, on the strict reading of Yoni and Vashya.
Ashwini ↓ / Punarvasu →	Pada 1Gemini	Pada 2Gemini	Pada 3Gemini	Pada 4Cancer
Pada 1Aries	16 / 17	16 / 17	16 / 17	20.5 / 19.5
Pada 2Aries	16 / 17	16 / 17	16 / 17	20.5 / 19.5
Pada 3Aries	16 / 17	16 / 17	16 / 17	20.5 / 19.5
Pada 4Aries	16 / 17	16 / 17	16 / 17	20.5 / 19.5

Strict reading of the two disputed kootas throughout. The generous reading of Yoni and Vashya adds 3 guna to every cell. 4 of the sixteen clear the conventional threshold of 18; the other 12 do not. 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

The two heavy kootas, checked with their cancellations. Neither gives a partial score, so each is worth 8 and 7 guna outright or nothing at all.

Nadi Koota — 0 of 8

Ashwini and Punarvasu are both Adi (Vata), so the plain rule gives nothing. None of the three recognised cancellations reaches this pair — the same star in different padas, both Moons in one rashi, or two rashis sharing a lord — so the eight guna are lost and 28 is the ceiling for Ashwini with Punarvasu however well everything else goes.

Bhakoot Koota — 7 of 7 at pada 1

Gemini and Aries — 3/11 — 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. Remedial practice for Nadi dosha is set out on the Nadi dosha page.

Two Tests Outside the 36

The South Indian reckoning runs to ten kootas, and two of the extras are counts between Ashwini and Punarvasu alone — so they can be given here and checked by hand.

Mahendra — present. Mahendra wants every third star from the fourth — 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 — and Ashwini to Punarvasu is 7. 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: 7 from Ashwini and 22 from Punarvasu, against a threshold sources give as seven or as nine. It holds with Punarvasu as the bride and not with Ashwini.

Neither test touches the 36. Muhurta nature is a different question again — Ashwini is Kshipra / Laghu (swift and light), Punarvasu 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: 17 of 36 puts Punarvasu 19th among Ashwini's 27 possible partners and Ashwini 21st among Punarvasu's, both on the pada-1 figures those two tables print.

In Ashwini’s table

19th of 27

Punarvasu scores 17 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 Punarvasu’s table

21st of 27

Ashwini scores 17 there outright. Punarvasu’s 27 partners run from 4 to 28 with a median of 21.5, so this one sits below the middle of what Punarvasu 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 Punarvasu 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 Punarvasu page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many guna do Ashwini and Punarvasu score?

16–19 of 36 with Ashwini as the bride and 17–20 with Punarvasu as the bride, taking pada 1 on both sides. The real padas move it: across all sixteen combinations the total runs from 17 to 20.5, and the grid on this page gives every cell. The generous reading of Yoni and Vashya adds 3 guna to every cell. Against every possible pairing of two Moon positions, 63.6% clear 18 and the median is 20.5.

Are Ashwini and Punarvasu compatible?

On Ashtakoot the conservative reading puts Ashwini with Punarvasu at below the conventional threshold — under the 18 that families conventionally look for. The guna are lost on Nadi (0 of 8), 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). Read that as a filter result, not as a recommendation. A koota scoring zero — here Varna and Nadi — is the part worth taking to an astrologer rather than to a calculator.

Does the pada change the result for Ashwini and Punarvasu?

Yes. Punarvasu runs from Gemini into Cancer after pada 3, and Varna, Vashya, Graha Maitri and Bhakoot are read from the Moon rashi rather than from the nakshatra, so 15 of the 36 guna move with that boundary. The total ranges from 17 to 20.5 across the sixteen combinations — a swing of 3.5 guna, against a median of 2 and a maximum of 14 over all 351 pairs. Only the birth times settle which cell applies.

Do Ashwini and Punarvasu have Nadi dosha?

Yes on the plain rule: both birth stars fall in Adi (Vata), and a shared nadi scores 0 of 8 — the largest single deduction in Ashtakoot. The three recognised cancellations — the same star in different padas, both Moons in one rashi, or two rashis sharing a lord — do not apply to Ashwini with Punarvasu, so the eight guna are genuinely lost. That leaves a ceiling of 28 for this pair however well the other seven go. Across every possible pairing, 33.3% carry Nadi dosha and 23.2% of those are cancelled.

Is it better for Ashwini to be the bride or the groom?

On the arithmetic, Punarvasu on the bride's side scores higher — 17–20 against 16–19. Varna and Gana are the only kootas that can do that, and here Varna goes from 0 with Ashwini as bride to 1 with Punarvasu as bride. 314 of the 351 pairs move like this, so a calculator that takes two stars without asking who is the bride has picked a direction for you.

Run It On the Real Padas

The grid above narrows Ashwini and Punarvasu to sixteen answers between 17 and 20.5. Two birth times pick one of them.

Run the full 36-guna match Have an astrologer read both charts

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