Bhakoot Dosha in Kundli Matching: Types and Cancellation

Bhakoot dosha arises in Kundli matching when the two partners’ Moon signs are 2/12, 5/9 or 6/8 from each other, so the Bhakoot koota scores 0 of its 7 points. It is common, appearing in half of all possible pairings, but a widely used classical rule cancels it in nearly half of those cases: when both Moon signs share a lord, or when their two lords are natural friends.

What Bhakoot measures

Bhakoot, also called Rashi koota, is the seventh of the eight kootas in Guna Milan and the second heaviest after Nadi. It compares the signs occupied by the Moon at each person’s birth, and tradition links it with family welfare, prosperity and affection between the couple.

Unlike most kootas, Bhakoot has no middle score. It gives either 7 points or none, which is why a single Bhakoot result can move a total from one band to another. For how all eight kootas fit together, see the 36 gunas explained.

Bhakoot uses only the two Moon signs. The nakshatras, the ascendant and the other planets play no part in it.

How to count the distance

Count from one Moon sign to the other, counting the starting sign as 1. Then count back the other way. The two counts form a pair, and the pair decides the score.

Take a groom with the Moon in Gemini and a bride with the Moon in Cancer. Cancer is the 2nd sign from Gemini, and Gemini is the 12th from Cancer, so the pair is 2/12 and Bhakoot scores 0.

A quick check: unless both Moons are in the same sign, the two counts always add up to 14.

The three forms of Bhakoot dosha

Each form has its own name and its own traditional concern:

Most astrologers treat 6/8 as the strongest form. Some treat 5/9 more gently, since the 5th and 9th are favourable houses in a birth chart. These are traditional associations, not predictions, and none of them says anything certain about a particular couple.

The cancellation rule

The cancellation most widely applied in North Indian practice looks at the planets that rule the two Moon signs. The dosha is set aside when:

• Both signs have the same lord. Aries and Scorpio are both ruled by Mars, Taurus and Libra by Venus, and Capricorn and Aquarius by Saturn.
• The two lords are friends both ways. Under the classical natural friendships, six pairs of lords qualify: Sun and Moon, Sun and Mars, Sun and Jupiter, Mars and Jupiter, Mercury and Venus, and Venus and Saturn.

A one-sided friendship does not count. The Moon treats Mercury as a friend, for example, but Mercury treats the Moon as an enemy, so a Gemini–Cancer pair is not cancelled. This strict reading follows the Graha Maitri friendships used elsewhere in Guna Milan.

Here is every sign pair with Bhakoot dosha, sorted by this rule:

It does not matter whose Moon is in which sign: Aries–Scorpio is cancelled whether the groom or the bride has the Aries Moon.

Some texts add further exceptions, such as friendly lords of the signs the two Moons occupy in the navamsa. These vary between traditions, so ask your astrologer which ones they apply.

How common Bhakoot dosha is

We scored every possible pair of Moon positions, in steps of a quarter of a degree, using the classical rules above. The pattern is simple:

• Half of all pairings have Bhakoot dosha before any cancellation, split evenly between the three forms.
• The lord rule cancels 17 of the 36 sign pairs with a dosha, a little under half.
• That leaves an uncancelled Bhakoot dosha in roughly one pairing in four.

A pairing with any Bhakoot dosha can score at most 28 of 36, and one with an uncancelled dosha at most 27. A total that looks very good can therefore still carry one, which is why the koota-by-koota view matters.

What the total means with a live Bhakoot dosha

A cancelled dosha does not add the 7 points back. The zero stays in the total, and the cancellation is noted beside it. When the dosha is not cancelled, our matching tool reads the total like this:

In practice, most uncancelled Bhakoot doshas come with modest totals: in our scoring, about three in four score 20 or less, and only about three in a hundred reach 26. An uncancelled Nadi dosha, where it also appears, outweighs everything else in the verdict.

Three worked examples

Cancelled 6/8. A groom with the Moon in Ashwini, in Aries, and a bride with the Moon in Anuradha, in Scorpio. Scorpio is the 8th sign from Aries, so this is Shadashtak. Both signs are ruled by Mars, so the dosha is cancelled. The total is 24.5 of 36, acceptable, with full marks for Graha Maitri and Gana.

Uncancelled 2/12 at the same total. A groom with the Moon in Ashwini, in Aries, and a bride with the Moon in Rohini, in Taurus. The signs sit side by side, a 2/12 pair, and Mars and Venus are neutral to each other, so there is no cancellation. The total is again 24.5, acceptable by tradition, but the report asks you to look at the lower kootas before deciding. Same score, different story.

Uncancelled 2/12 below 18. A groom with the Moon in Ardra, in Gemini, and a bride with the Moon in Pushya, in Cancer. Mercury regards the Moon as an enemy, so the dosha stands. With low Varna, Yoni and Graha Maitri as well, the total is 17. This is the case in which families ask an astrologer to read both full charts before going further.

Bhakoot, Nadi and the rest of the match

Bhakoot and Nadi together hold 15 of the 36 points, and a pairing can carry both doshas at once. When that happens, check each one for its own cancellation before reading the total. A cancelled Bhakoot dosha beside a cancelled Nadi dosha is a very different picture from two live ones. Our guide to Nadi dosha covers its exceptions, and how many gunas are needed for marriage explains the score bands.

When a Bhakoot dosha stands uncancelled, neither of the usual reasons for setting aside a Gana dosha applies, which is why the two often appear together in low scores.

Bhakoot in South Indian matching

South Indian Porutham matching checks the Moon signs through two of its ten agreements, Rasi porutham and Rasi Adhipati porutham (the lords of the signs). They cover similar ground to Bhakoot and Graha Maitri, but count and weigh the distances in their own way, and regional lists differ. Families from different regions should agree early which method both sides will follow. Our guide to Rajju and Vedha explains the two southern checks families usually treat as decisive.

What families traditionally do

1. Find both Moon signs and the distance between them.
2. Apply the cancellation. Same lord, or lords who are friends both ways, cancels the dosha in most traditions.
3. Read the total and the other kootas. With a live dosha, tradition looks for more than 20 gunas.
4. Ask a qualified astrologer to read both full charts: the 7th house, Venus, the navamsa and the dashas, along with Manglik status.
5. Decide together. A Bhakoot result is one traditional factor, and it should never outweigh what two people know about each other.

If anyone presses for a costly ritual, it is fair to ask why it is needed. A good astrologer explains the cancellations first and never uses fear to hurry a decision.

To see your own result, use our Kundli matching tool. The score out of 36 is free, and the full report shows every koota with the Nadi, Bhakoot, Rajju and Vedha checks and any cancellation that applies. Each partner can also create a free Kundli to see their Moon sign. For every koota table in one place, see the Ashtakoot Guna Milan table.