Read the total, then distrust it
The first number to find is the Ashtakoota total. The sample report shows:The classical bands are: below 18 = difficult; 18–23 = workable; 24–31 = good; 32+ = excellent. So 24/36 sits comfortably in the “good” range. Note it — then set it aside immediately.The total is a sum of eight factors with very different weights. A high-weight factor scoring zero pulls the total down far less than it should; a low-weight factor scoring perfectly inflates the total beyond its real significance. The only way to read a score honestly is to pull it apart factor by factor.
Weight the heavy kūṭas — Nāḍī and Bhakūṭa
Two kūṭas carry the most weight: Nāḍī (maximum 8 points) and Bhakūṭa (maximum 7 points). Always read these first, because their influence on health and financial wellbeing is considered fundamental in the classical texts.Nāḍī 8/8 is the most important single factor in the Ashtakoota system and here it scores perfectly. Different nāḍīs indicate physiological compatibility and reduced risk of certain health-related friction — a strong foundation.Bhakūṭa 0/7 is the most important caution in this report. The Moon signs (Scorpio and Sagittarius) form a 2/12 relationship — one of the three patterns that constitute a Bhakūṭa dosha (the others being 6/8 and 5/9). A 2/12 pattern is associated with financial stress and distance over time. The total of 24 includes this zero; without it the chart would read very differently. This is what the headline hides.The honest first reading: excellent physiological compatibility (Nāḍī), significant financial/relational caution (Bhakūṭa dosha).
Read the lighter kūṭas for texture
The remaining six kūṭas carry less weight individually but together paint the texture of day-to-day compatibility — temperament, instinct, rapport, and social standing. Read them as a group rather than fixating on any single one.The pattern here is clear: Gaṇa and Graha Maitri are both maximally strong — same fundamental temperament and genuine mental affinity between the Moon-sign lords. These are the qualities that sustain a relationship through difficulty. Yoni (1/4) and Vaśya (0/2) are weak, pointing to lower instinctual resonance and less natural influence between partners — areas worth a conscious conversation rather than a cause for alarm.
Check Mangal dosha for both
Mangal dosha (Mars in the 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th, or 12th house) is the most widely known compatibility caution in popular Vedic astrology, and its presence or absence affects the overall assessment independently of the Ashtakoota score.Neither partner carries a Mangal dosha in this chart, and their Mars signs are mutually friendly — the most favourable possible result on this factor. Check this section carefully whenever one partner’s Mars falls in the classical dosha houses, as cancellation rules can apply and are shown in the report.
Read the marriage houses in D1 and D9
This is the step most compatibility readings skip, and it is often the most revealing. The 7th house in the natal (D1) chart and its state in the D9 (Navāṁśa) reflect the deeper, intrinsic capacity for partnership in each person’s own chart — something the kūṭa scores do not touch at all.Venus exalted in the 7th house is one of the strongest classical indicators for partnership in a person’s own chart. It speaks to Person 1’s deep orientation toward relationship and their capacity to bring grace and harmony to it — a fundamental quality that no kūṭa score can capture. The several vargottama placements in Person 1’s D9 (planets occupying the same sign in D1 and D9) add a layer of inner stability and consistency to the chart. Check Person 2’s 7th house in both charts using the same method.
Form a weighed view
Bring all five layers together into a single honest picture:The complete picture is more nuanced than “24/36 — good”: a genuinely excellent Nāḍī and strong Gaṇa and Graha Maitri, held against a real Bhakūṭa dosha and low Yoni/Vaśya, with an exalted 7th-house Venus in Person 1’s chart as a fundamentally positive factor that the score never captures. That is a far more useful reading — and a far more honest one.
Method, not verdict. Jyoti Guide surfaces the score, each kūṭa breakdown, dosha flags, Mangal status, and the D1/D9 marriage houses so you can weigh all the factors in context. The app deliberately does not deliver a yes or no — compatibility is a judgement, and a serious one. The classical tradition itself recommends forming a view with the full picture in hand, and ideally with a knowledgeable astrologer when the matter is of genuine importance.
Couple Compatibility
Open the compatibility report and follow each kūṭa in the app as you read this example.
Ashtakoota Scoring Reference
Full reference table for all eight kūṭas, their maximum scores, dosha rules, and cancellations.