Ashtakoot Guna Milan · Pair
Mrigashira and Dhanishta nakshatra matching
10–13 of 36 with Mrigashira as bride, 11–14 with Dhanishta as bride — then computed again for all sixteen pada combinations.
Mrigashira: Madhya (Pitta) nadi · Serpent yoni · Deva gana | Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) nadi · Lion yoni · Rakshasa gana
Mrigashira as bride
10–13
of 36
Dhanishta as bride
11–14
of 36
Across all padas
9–18
spread of 9
Of the eight kootas, 5 leave something on the table for this pair and 3 do not. Nadi is the largest at 0 of 8 — Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) · Mrigashira: Madhya (Pitta). The complete ones are Varna, Tara and Graha Maitri, which is 9 of the 36 guna earned before any deduction is applied.
A swing of 9 guna separates the best and worst cells in the grid below — 9 at the bottom, 18 at the top. The cause is a boundary inside the four padas: Mrigashira runs from Taurus into Gemini after pada 2 and 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 Mrigashira with Dhanishta. Varna and Gana are the two directional tests, which is why each name gets a column: Gana differs between them.
| Koota | Mrigashira bride | Dhanishta bride | What it reads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varna / 1 | 1 | 1 | Dhanishta: Vaishya · Mrigashira: Vaishya |
| Vashya / 2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | Dhanishta: Jalachar · Mrigashira: Chatushpada |
| Tara / 3 | 3 | 3 | Counting from Mrigashira: Janma (1) · from Dhanishta: Janma (1) |
| Yoni / 4 | 1–3 | 1–3 | Dhanishta: Lion · Mrigashira: Serpent |
| Graha Maitri / 5 | 5 | 5 | Dhanishta: Saturn · Mrigashira: Venus |
| Gana / 6 | 0 | 1 | Dhanishta: Rakshasa · Mrigashira: Deva |
| Bhakoot / 7 | 0 | 0 | Capricorn and Taurus — 9/5 |
| Nadi / 8 | 0 | 0 | Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) · Mrigashira: Madhya (Pitta) |
| Total / 36 | 10–13 | 11–14 | Below the conventional threshold |
- Nadi, 0 of 8 — Dhanishta: Madhya (Pitta) · Mrigashira: Madhya (Pitta). The heaviest koota in the system, all or nothing.
- Bhakoot, 0 of 7 — Capricorn and Taurus — 9/5. One of the three forbidden distances, and Bhakoot is all or nothing.
- Gana, 0 of 6 — Dhanishta: Rakshasa · Mrigashira: Deva. Directional: swap the partners and the same two ganas score differently.
- Yoni, 1–3 of 4 — Dhanishta: Lion · Mrigashira: Serpent. Not the same animal, not a hostile pair, so the graded middle.
- Vashya, 0–1 of 2 — Dhanishta: Jalachar · Mrigashira: Chatushpada. Neither the same group nor the agreed zero, so the graded middle where lineages differ.
Half-guna figures are exact rather than rounded. Each koota’s rule is set out in full on Mrigashira’s table and Dhanishta’s.
All Sixteen Pada Combinations
Mrigashira runs Taurus 23°20′ – Gemini 6°40′ 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 106°40′ and 133°20′ apart. Every cell below holds two totals: Mrigashira as bride first, Dhanishta as bride second. The cells are not all the same, which is the point of printing them — 9 at the lowest and 18 at the highest.
| Mrigashira ↓ / Dhanishta → | Pada 1Capricorn | Pada 2Capricorn | Pada 3Aquarius | Pada 4Aquarius |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pada 1Taurus | 10 / 11 | 10 / 11 | 16 / 18 | 16 / 18 |
| Pada 2Taurus | 10 / 11 | 10 / 11 | 16 / 18 | 16 / 18 |
| Pada 3Gemini | 9 / 9 | 9 / 9 | 11 / 12 | 11 / 12 |
| Pada 4Gemini | 9 / 9 | 9 / 9 | 11 / 12 | 11 / 12 |
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. 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
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 — 0 of 8
Mrigashira and Dhanishta are both Madhya (Pitta), 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 Mrigashira with Dhanishta however well everything else goes.
Bhakoot Koota — 0 of 7 at pada 1
In 12 of the sixteen pada combinations, the two Moon signs stand at one of the three forbidden distances and Bhakoot gives nothing. 4 of those 12 cells carry the cancellation and the rest do not, so the pada decides not just the score but whether the relief clause is available.
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 Mrigashira and Dhanishta 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 Mrigashira to Dhanishta is 19. 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: 19 from Mrigashira and 10 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 — Mrigashira is Mridu (tender), 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: 11 of 36 puts Dhanishta 25th among Mrigashira's 27 possible partners and Mrigashira 25th among Dhanishta's, both on the pada-1 figures those two tables print.
In Mrigashira’s table
25th of 27
Dhanishta scores 11 there, level with 1 other partner. Mrigashira’s 27 partners run from 9 to 35 with a median of 19.5, so this one sits below the middle of what Mrigashira can reach — all 27 rows.
In Dhanishta’s table
25th of 27
Mrigashira scores 11 there outright. Dhanishta’s 27 partners run from 6.5 to 29.5 with a median of 19, so this one sits below the middle of what Dhanishta can reach — all 27 rows.
What This Total Is Not
The whole of Ashtakoot for Mrigashira and Dhanishta rests on two arcs of the zodiac 13°20′ wide. Everything a chart is usually read for — the seventh house and its lord, Venus and Mars, Mangal dosha, the dasha each partner is running — sits outside those two arcs and outside this total, which is why below the conventional threshold is a starting point for a conversation and not the end of one.
Written rather than computed, and worth the longer read: the guide to all 27 birth stars and kundli matching for marriage, end to end. The full profiles of the two stars — deities, symbols, temperament, the syllables used for naming — are on the Mrigashira page and the Dhanishta page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many guna do Mrigashira and Dhanishta score?
Are Mrigashira and Dhanishta compatible?
Does the pada change the result for Mrigashira and Dhanishta?
Do Mrigashira and Dhanishta have Nadi dosha?
Is it better for Mrigashira to be the bride or the groom?
Run It On the Real Padas
The grid above narrows Mrigashira and Dhanishta to sixteen answers between 9 and 18. Two birth times pick one of them.
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