Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi 6.21–6.38
Aṣṭakūṭa Milan अष्टकूट मिलान
The eight kūṭas and the thirty-six guṇas
Rāma Daivajña names eight points of agreement between two Moons and gives each one more guṇa than the last — one for varṇa, two for vaśya, up to eight for nāḍī. One and two and three, up to eight, make thirty-six: the number is the verse’s own.
- Varṇa · 2.8%
- Vaśya · 5.6%
- Tārā · 8.3%
- Yoni · 11.1%
- Graha-maitrī · 13.9%
- Gaṇa · 16.7%
- Bhakūṭa · 19.4%
- Nāḍī · 22.2%
Each step carries one more guṇa than the last: 1 + 2 + … + 8 = 36
The eight, and why thirty-six
One verse carries the whole frame. Everything after it is a table for one of the eight.
वर्णो वश्यं तथा तारा योनिश्च ग्रहमैत्रकम्
गणमैत्रं भकूटं च नाडी चैते गुणाधिकाः ॥ २१ ॥
Varṇa, vaśya, tārā, yoni, the friendship of the sign-lords, gaṇa-friendship, bhakūṭa and nāḍī — these are the eight points of matching, and each carries one more unit of merit (guṇa) than the one before it.
From the Moon’s sign: varṇa, vaśya, the lords’ friendship, bhakūṭa
Four of the eight are read from the two Moon-signs alone — 1, 2, 5 and 7 guṇas, fifteen of the thirty-six.
द्विजा झषालिकर्कटास्ततो नृपा विशोऽघ्रिजाः
वरस्य वर्णतोऽधिका वधूर्न शस्यते बुधैः ॥ २२ ॥
Pisces, Scorpio and Cancer are the brāhmaṇa signs; then in order come the kṣatriya signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), the vaiśya signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and the śūdra signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius). The wise do not approve a bride whose sign-varṇa is higher than the groom’s.
हित्वा मृगेन्द्रं नरराशिवश्याः सर्वे तथैषां जलजास्तु भक्ष्याः
सर्वेऽपि सिंहस्य वशे विनाऽलिं ज्ञेयं नराणां व्यवहारतोऽन्यत् ॥ २३ ॥
All signs except Leo are under the sway (vaśya) of the human signs, and the watery signs are their food; all signs except Scorpio are under the sway of Leo. The remaining vaśya relations are to be understood from ordinary experience of how the creatures the signs stand for behave toward one another.
मित्राणि द्युमणेः कुजेज्यशशिनः शुक्रार्कजौ वैरिणौ
सौम्यश्चास्य समो विधोर्बुधरवी मित्रे न चास्य द्विषत्
शेषाश्चास्य समाः कुजस्य सुहृदश्चन्द्रेज्यसूर्याः बुधः
शत्रुः शुक्रशनी समौ च शशभृत्सूनोः सिताहस्करौ ॥ २७ ॥
The Sun’s friends are Mars, Jupiter and the Moon; Venus and Saturn are its enemies; Mercury is neutral. The Moon’s friends are Mercury and the Sun; it has no enemy; the rest are neutral to it. Mars’s friends are the Moon, Jupiter and the Sun; Mercury is its enemy; Venus and Saturn are neutral. Mercury’s friends are Venus and the Sun —
मित्रे चऽस्य रिपुः शशी गुरुशनिक्ष्माजाः समा गीष्पते
र्मित्राण्यर्ककुजेन्दवो बुधसितौ शत्रू समः सूर्यजः
मित्रे सौम्यशनी कवेः शशिरवी शत्रू कुजेज्यौ समौ
मित्रे शुक्रबुधौ शनेः शशिरविक्ष्माजा द्विषोऽन्यः समः ॥ २८ ॥
— and the Moon is its enemy; Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are neutral to it. Jupiter’s friends are the Sun, Mars and the Moon; Mercury and Venus are its enemies; Saturn is neutral. Venus’s friends are Mercury and Saturn; the Moon and the Sun are its enemies; Mars and Jupiter are neutral. Saturn’s friends are Venus and Mercury; the Moon, the Sun and Mars are its enemies; the remaining planet (Jupiter) is neutral.
मृत्युः षडष्टके ज्ञेयोऽपत्यहानिर्नवात्मजे
द्विर्द्वादशे निर्धनत्वं द्वयोरन्यत्र सौख्यकृत् ॥ ३१ ॥
When the two Moon-signs stand sixth and eighth from each other, death is to be feared; when ninth and fifth, loss of children; when second and twelfth, poverty. In the other positions the pairing brings happiness.
From the Moon’s star: tārā, yoni, gaṇa, nāḍī
The other four come from the two birth stars — 3, 4, 6 and 8 guṇas, twenty-one of the thirty-six. Nāḍī alone is eight.
कन्यर्क्षाद्वरभं यावत् कन्याभं वरभादपि
गणयेन्नवहृच्छेषे त्रीष्वद्रिभमसत्स्मृतम् ॥ २४ ॥
Count from the bride’s star to the groom’s star, and again from the groom’s star to the bride’s; divide each count by nine. A remainder of three, five or seven is held to be inauspicious.
अश्विन्यभ्युपयोर्हयो निगदितः स्वात्यर्कयोः कासरः
सिंहो वस्वजपाद्भयोः समुदितो याम्यान्त्ययोः कुञ्जरः
मेषो देवपुरोहितानलभयोः कर्णाम्बुनोर्वानरः
स्याद्वैश्वाभिजितोस्तथैव नकुलश्चान्द्राब्जयोन्योरहिः ॥ २५ ॥
The horse is the yoni of Aśvinī and Śatabhiṣā; the buffalo of Svātī and Hasta; the lion of Dhaniṣṭhā and Pūrva-bhādrapadā; the elephant of Bharaṇī and Revatī; the sheep of Puṣya and Kṛttikā; the monkey of Śravaṇa and Pūrvāṣāḍhā; the mongoose of Uttarāṣāḍhā and Abhijit; the serpent of Mṛgaśirā and Rohiṇī.
ज्येष्ठामैत्रभयोः कुरङ्ग उदितो मूलार्द्रयोः श्वा तथा
मार्जारोऽदितिसार्पयोरथ मघायोन्योस्तथैवोन्दुरुः
व्याघ्रो द्वीशभचित्रयोरपि च गौरर्यम्णबुध्न्यर्क्षयो
र्योनिः पादगयोः परस्परमहावैरं भयोन्योस्त्यजेत् ॥ २६ ॥
The deer is the yoni of Jyeṣṭhā and Anurādhā; the dog of Mūla and Ārdrā; the cat of Punarvasu and Āśleṣā; the rat of Maghā and Pūrva-phalgunī; the tiger of Viśākhā and Citrā; the cow of Uttara-phalgunī and Uttara-bhādrapadā. One should reject a match in which the two star-yonis are great enemies of one another.
रक्षोनराऽमरगणाः क्रमतो मघाहिवस्विन्द्रमूलवरुणानलतक्षराधाः
मूर्वोत्तरात्रयविधातृयमेशभानि मैत्रादितीन्दुहरिपौष्णमरुल्लघूनि ॥ २९ ॥
The rākṣasa gaṇa is Maghā, Āśleṣā, Dhaniṣṭhā, Jyeṣṭhā, Mūla, Śatabhiṣā, Kṛttikā, Citrā and Viśākhā; the human (manuṣya) gaṇa is the three Pūrvās, the three Uttarās, Rohiṇī, Bharaṇī and Ārdrā; the divine (deva) gaṇa is Anurādhā, Punarvasu, Mṛgaśirā, Śravaṇa, Revatī, Svātī and the three swift stars Hasta, Aśvinī and Puṣya.
निजनिजगणमध्ये प्रीतिरत्युत्तमा स्या
दमरमनुजयोः सा मध्यमा सम्प्रदिष्टा
असुरमनुजयोश्चेन्मृत्युरेव प्रदिष्टो
दनुजविबुधयोः स्याद्वैरमेकान्ततोऽत्र ॥ ३० ॥
Within one and the same gaṇa the affection is of the very best kind; between the divine and the human gaṇa it is said to be middling; between the demonic and the human gaṇa death itself is foretold; between the demonic and the divine there is nothing but enmity.
ज्येष्ठारौद्रार्यमाम्भःपतिभयुगयुगं दास्रभं चैकनाडी
पुष्येन्दुत्वाष्ट्रमित्रान्तकवसुजलभं योनिबुध्न्ये च मध्या
वाय्वग्निव्यालविश्वोडुयुगयुगमथो पौष्णभं चापरा स्याद्
दम्पत्योरेकनाड्यां परिणयनमसन्मध्यनाड्यां हि मृत्युः ॥ ३४ ॥
Jyeṣṭhā, Ārdrā, Uttara-phalgunī and Śatabhiṣā, each with its neighbouring star (Mūla, Punarvasu, Hasta, Pūrva-bhādrapadā), and Aśvinī make up the first (ādi) nāḍī. Puṣya, Mṛgaśirā, Citrā, Anurādhā, Bharaṇī, Dhaniṣṭhā, Pūrvāṣāḍhā, Pūrva-phalgunī and Uttara-bhādrapadā are the middle (madhya) nāḍī. Svātī, Kṛttikā, Āśleṣā and Uttarāṣāḍhā, each with its neighbour (Viśākhā, Rohiṇī, Maghā, Śravaṇa), and Revatī are the last (antya) nāḍī. Marriage of a couple in the same nāḍī is bad; in the same middle nāḍī it brings death.
What the text itself lifts
A bad bhakūṭa, a gaṇa fault and a nāḍī fault each have a stated exception. These three verses are the only cancellations the page honours.
प्रोक्ते दुष्टभकूटके परिणयस्त्वेकाधिपत्ये शुभो
ऽथो राशीश्वरसौहृदेऽपि गदितो नाड्यृक्षशुद्धिर्यदि
अन्यर्क्षैऽशपयोर्बलित्वसस्रिते नाड्यृक्षशुद्धौ तथा
ताराशुद्धिवशेन राशिवशताभावे निरुक्तो बुधैः ॥ ३२ ॥
Even where the bhakūṭa is declared bad, marriage is approved if both signs have a single lord, or if the two sign-lords are friends — provided the nāḍī and the stars are clean. The same holds when the navāṃśa-lords are strong friends and nāḍī and stars are clean; and where the sign-vaśya fails, it is remedied by the purity of the tārā — so the learned have said.
मैत्र्यां राशिस्वामिनोरंशनाथद्वन्द्वस्यापि स्याद्गणानां न दोषः
खेटारित्वं नाशयेत्सद्भकूटं खेटप्रीतिश्चापि दुष्टं भकूटम् ॥ ३३ ॥
When the lords of the two signs are friends, or the lords of the two navāṃśas, the gaṇa fault does not count. A good bhakūṭa destroys the enmity of the planets, and the friendship of the planets destroys a bad bhakūṭa.
राश्यैक्ये चेद्भिन्नमृक्षं द्वयोः स्यान्नक्षत्रैक्ये राशियुग्मं तथैव
नाडीदोषो नो गणानां च दोषो नक्षत्रैक्ये पादभेदे शुभं स्यात् ॥ ३५ ॥
If the Moon-sign is the same but the stars differ, or the star is the same but the signs differ, there is neither a nāḍī fault nor a gaṇa fault; and when the star is the same, a difference of quarter (pāda) makes the match auspicious.
Whose affection leads
A last verse divides the star-circle in three and reads the direction of affection from the bride’s star.
पौष्णेशशाक्राद्रससूर्यनन्दाः पूर्वार्धमध्याऽपरभागयुग्मम्
भर्ता प्रियः प्राग्युजिभे स्त्रियाः स्यान्मध्ये द्वयोः प्रेम परे प्रिया स्त्री ॥ ३८ ॥
Beginning from Revatī, from Ārdrā and from Jyeṣṭhā, groups of six, twelve and nine stars form the first, middle and last portions of the star-circle. When the woman’s star falls in the first portion, the husband is dear to her; in the middle, the love is mutual; in the last, the wife is the beloved one.
Match two charts
Only the Moon’s star and sign are used from each chart. Signed in, the first chart opens on your selected Kuṇḍalī.
How to use this
- Say which chart is the bride’s: tārā and the affection verse count from her star.
- Read the staircase first: a low total with nāḍī and bhakūṭa intact is a different thing from a high total without them.
- The thirty-six measures two Moons, not two people. Maṅgala-doṣa, the seventh houses and the daśās are read separately.
What this page does not do
It does not decide a marriage. The part-marks and the verdict bands are handbook convention and are labelled as such. Maṅgala-doṣa, longevity, the seventh house and the running daśās are outside the eight, and no page can weigh two families, two temperaments and two consents.
Daśakūṭa — the ten agreements → Maṅgala-doṣa → Marriage muhūrta →