Guide
Bhakoot dosha and its cancellation
Bhakoot dosha appears when your two Moon signs sit 2/12, 5/9 or 6/8 from each other. It is cancelled when both Moon signs have the same lord, or when the two lords are natural friends of each other.
By the KundliScore team · · 6 min read
What Bhakoot dosha is
Bhakoot (the Moon-sign relationship) is the seventh of the eight kootas in guna milan and carries 7 of the 36 gunas. It looks at how far apart the bride’s and the groom’s Moon signs are, and it is read as a sign of emotional and family harmony.
Your Moon sign is the sign the Moon was in when you were born. It is often called your rashi, and it is the sign many families already know from a horoscope made at birth. The Moon stays in one sign for about two and a quarter days, so the birth time matters only when the Moon changed sign that day. Bhakoot scores all or nothing. Either the couple gets the full 7 points or they get 0. A score of 0 is called Bhakoot dosha, and only Nadi, at 8 points, can move the total more.
How Bhakoot is counted
Count from the bride’s Moon sign to the groom’s, counting her sign as 1. Then count back the other way. The two counts form a pair, such as 2/12 or 4/10.
| Moon-sign position | Points | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Same sign (1/1) | 7 | No dosha |
| 1/7 | 7 | No dosha |
| 3/11 | 7 | No dosha |
| 4/10 | 7 | No dosha |
| 2/12 | 0 | Bhakoot dosha |
| 5/9 | 0 | Bhakoot dosha |
| 6/8 | 0 | Bhakoot dosha |
For example, take a bride with the Moon in Aries and a groom with the Moon in Virgo. Virgo is the 6th sign from Aries, and Aries is the 8th from Virgo. That is a 6/8 pair. The pair comes out the same whichever partner you start from, so Bhakoot, unlike Varna or Gana, does not depend on who is the bride and who is the groom.
The 2/12, 5/9 and 6/8 positions
All three positions score 0, so each one counts as Bhakoot dosha in the guna total. None of the three is treated more lightly than the others in the score.
The tradition also notes that 2/12 and 6/8 bring some strain in mood when the Moon moves through the signs, while 3/11 and 1/7 bring easy, positive moods. This is background colour only. It is not scored, and it does not change your result.
Bhakoot dosha cancellation rules
A Bhakoot dosha is cancelled when either of these holds:
- Both Moon signs have the same lord. Mars rules Aries and Scorpio, Venus rules Taurus and Libra, and Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius.
- The two Moon-sign lords are natural friends of each other, each counting the other as a friend. The pairs are the Sun and the Moon, the Sun and Mars, the Sun and Jupiter, Mars and Jupiter, Mercury and Venus, and Venus and Saturn.
When a rule applies, we give back the full 7 points and show which rule cancelled it.
Which sign pairs are cancelled
Putting the two rules together gives the full list. Order does not matter here, so Cancer and Leo are cancelled whether the bride or the groom has the Moon in Cancer.
| Position | Cancelled | Dosha stays |
|---|---|---|
| 2/12 | Taurus–Gemini, Cancer–Leo, Virgo–Libra, Scorpio–Sagittarius, Capricorn–Aquarius, Pisces–Aries | Aries–Taurus, Gemini–Cancer, Leo–Virgo, Libra–Scorpio, Sagittarius–Capricorn, Aquarius–Pisces |
| 5/9 | Aries–Leo, Aries–Sagittarius, Leo–Sagittarius, Taurus–Virgo, Taurus–Capricorn, Gemini–Libra, Libra–Aquarius, Scorpio–Pisces | Cancer–Scorpio, Cancer–Pisces, Gemini–Aquarius, Virgo–Capricorn |
| 6/8 | Aries–Scorpio, Taurus–Libra, Leo–Pisces | Aries–Virgo, Taurus–Sagittarius, Gemini–Scorpio, Gemini–Capricorn, Cancer–Sagittarius, Cancer–Aquarius, Leo–Capricorn, Virgo–Aquarius, Libra–Pisces |
So a 6/8 pair is cancelled for three sign pairs and stays for the other nine. Most 5/9 and half of the 2/12 pairs are cancelled.
Bhakoot dosha examples
- Moons in Cancer and Leo. Leo is the 2nd sign from Cancer, so this is 2/12. The lords are the Moon and the Sun, which are friends of each other, so the dosha is cancelled and the 7 points come back.
- Moons in Aries and Virgo. This is 6/8. The lords are Mars and Mercury, and Mars counts Mercury as an enemy, so the dosha stays.
- Moons in Leo and Pisces. Also 6/8. The lords are the Sun and Jupiter, friends of each other, so the dosha is cancelled.
- Moons in Cancer and Scorpio. This is 5/9. Mars counts the Moon as a friend, but the Moon only counts Mars as neutral. The friendship has to run both ways, so the dosha stays.
The last example is the one people most often get wrong. A friendship that runs one way only does not cancel Bhakoot. Both lords must count each other as friends.
If your Bhakoot dosha is not cancelled
On KundliScore a cancelled Bhakoot shows its full 7 points, with a note that a classical exception cancels it. An uncancelled one shows 0 of 7 and is marked as an area that needs care. An uncancelled Bhakoot dosha means 7 points stay at 0. It is an area that needs care, and it is one koota among eight. A match with Bhakoot at 0 can still clear the pass mark of 16, and the rest of both charts still has its say.
For a person whose Moon sign has the Vaishya temperament (Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn), Bhakoot is one of the priority kootas. If it scores 0 and is not cancelled, the overall verdict cannot be the top one.
Bhakoot has different rules from Nadi. Friendly lords cancel Bhakoot but not Nadi. See our Nadi dosha guide for those, and the 36 gunas explained for how the whole total is judged.
Questions people ask
Is 6/8 Bhakoot always bad?
No. It is cancelled when both Moon signs share a lord, as with Aries and Scorpio or Taurus and Libra, or when the lords are friends, as with Leo and Pisces. When it stays, it is one area that needs care.
How is Bhakoot dosha cancelled?
It is cancelled when both Moon signs have the same lord, or when the two lords are natural friends of each other. On KundliScore a cancelled Bhakoot gets its full 7 points back.
Is 2/12 Bhakoot a dosha?
Yes, it scores 0 like 5/9 and 6/8. Half of the 2/12 sign pairs are cancelled by the classical rules.
Can we marry with Bhakoot dosha?
Bhakoot is one koota out of eight, and gunas are one part of a full kundli milan. Look at the whole reading, and talk to an experienced astrologer if you are unsure.