What if both partners have the same Moon sign?

Then the sign lord is the same planet for both, which is treated as full friendship and scores the maximum five points.

Does Graha Maitri cancel Bhakoot dosha?

A strong Graha Maitri is one of the two conditions most widely cited as cancelling Bhakoot dosha, the other being both Moon signs sharing a lord. Traditions vary in how strictly they apply it, which is why the result reports the cancellation rather than silently applying it.

Which friendship table is used — natural or temporary?

Ashtakoot uses the natural (naisargika) table, which is fixed. Temporary friendship depends on where the planets sit in a particular chart and belongs to a fuller reading.

Graha Maitri Koota

ग्रह मैत्री कूट

What does Graha Maitri koota measure in kundli matching?

Graha Maitri carries 5 points of the 36 and compares the natural friendship between the lords of the two Moon signs. Mutual friends score the full 5, one-sided friendship and neutrality score less, and mutual enemies score zero. It is also the koota most often cited as cancelling Bhakoot dosha.

Natural friendship between the grahas

Classical astrology fixes a table of natural friendship, enmity and neutrality between the seven grahas — the Sun is friendly to the Moon, Mars and Jupiter and inimical to Venus and Saturn, and so on for each. Graha Maitri reads the lord of each partner's Moon sign and looks the pair up in that table. When the two lords are mutual friends the koota gives its full five points; mutual enmity gives none. Where both partners share a Moon sign the lord is the same planet, which scores full marks by definition.

Why this koota matters beyond its five points

Graha Maitri does double duty. Beyond its own five points, a strong Graha Maitri is one of the two conditions most widely cited as cancelling Bhakoot dosha — the seven-point penalty that is otherwise the second largest in the system. That means this koota can effectively be worth twelve points rather than five, which is a good reason to look at it before reacting to a Bhakoot failure.

Natural friendship is not temporary friendship

Classical texts distinguish naisargika (natural, permanent) friendship from tatkalika (temporary, chart-specific) friendship based on how far apart two planets sit in a given chart. Ashtakoot uses the natural table. A reading that goes further than the guna score — the kind a full compatibility analysis does — will look at the temporary relationships in both charts too, which can differ from the fixed table.

Common questions

How many points does Graha Maitri carry?: Five points out of 36.
What if both partners have the same Moon sign?: Then the sign lord is the same planet for both, which is treated as full friendship and scores the maximum five points.
Does Graha Maitri cancel Bhakoot dosha?: A strong Graha Maitri is one of the two conditions most widely cited as cancelling Bhakoot dosha, the other being both Moon signs sharing a lord. Traditions vary in how strictly they apply it, which is why the result reports the cancellation rather than silently applying it.
Which friendship table is used — natural or temporary?: Ashtakoot uses the natural (naisargika) table, which is fixed. Temporary friendship depends on where the planets sit in a particular chart and belongs to a fuller reading.