Most of us must have witnessed this scene in many Hindi movies wherein the families of both the boy and the girl rejoice due to the fact that all their 36 Gunas (also pronounces as Guns in Hindi) match with each other. Once this happens, a suitable marriage date is decided upon and the boy and girl are married to each other with the hope that they live a happy life together. What exactly is this concept of 36 Gunas? Do they actually have an impact or affect one’s married life?

Families in India consider writing the horoscope (also known as JanamKundali) of a child immediately post-birth. In case of some reason, if a person’s horoscope is not prepared during birth, it is definitely written before considering suitable marriage prospects. 

What does a horoscope contain?

A horoscope is prepared by considering the positions of the Sun, Moon and various planets. It usually reflects the overall personality traits of the person and in general, how his or her life is going to be in terms of health, wealth, marriage, work-life and so on. Usually, in India, many families consider it a mandate to match the horoscope of their daughter or son before proceeding with further talks of marriage. It is believed that a couple can lead a happy life together only if their horoscopes match and they are compatible with each other. 

What are 36 Gunas?

A horoscope or JanamKundali (also referred to as Janam Patrika by many people) contains 8 Kootas referred to as “Ashta Koota Milan”. According to this system, the 36 features or Gunas which are mentioned in the boy and the girl’s horoscopes should be compatible with each other.

These 36 Gunas (which have 8 categories) reflect the following:

* Ego aspects

* Power equation between the boy and the girl

* Birth star compatibility

* Sexual compatibility

* Rashi compatibility

* Temperament matching

* Health parameters of the bride and the groom

* Love equation between the couple

Astrologers make certain calculations for each category by comparing the horoscopes of the bride and groom to be and on that basis, a score is given to each section. Finally, the points in all the 8 sections (which contain 36 Gunas) are summed up and then the final decision is taken on the basis of the following:

* If more than 33 Gunas match (which is usually very rare), it is considered to be an extremely auspicious as the couple would be an ideal match

* If 25 to 32 Gunas match, it is still considered very good

* If 18 to 24 Gunas match, the marriage may be approved; however, it will be considered as an average compatibility

* If less than 18 Gunas match, then the marriage talks of the said couple are suspended immediately as it is considered to be a bad match

Should the matching of 36 Gunas be good in order to have good compatibility?

Before we can find an answer to the above question, let us first ask ourselves, how many people even consider matching their horoscopes before marriage? Well, of course, we cannot challenge the ancient Vedic astrological scriptures which are all indicative of the above-mentioned theory. I am sure, most of our parents (if we are in India) must have gone through this process of horoscope matching before they finally got hitched to each other and we see them leading a happy married life. But in any relationship, trust, love, and respect towards each other come beyond anything else. We may have seen cases where the horoscopes were never matched, but the couple is happy with each other. At the same time, there might be cases, where the horoscope matching was done keeping in mind all the factors, however, those marriages ended on a bitter note. So finally the conclusion is: respect your partner, treat him or her with immense love. Everything else automatically falls into place!!!