Vedic Marriage: Gun Milaan in a nutshell
According to Veda, marriage (Vivaha) is a union between a masculine and feminine entity with commitments to pursue Dharma, Artha (possessions), Kama (physical and other desires), and Moksha(the liberation) in unison. Vedic marriage is seen as a festival of arousing joy, progress, flourishing, and satisfaction as it is likewise a pyramid of rising to the following degree of one’s Karmic experience. Under Vedic traditions, marriage is viewed as one of the samskāras, which are lifelong commitments of one wife and one husband.
According to Manusmriti, or Manu’s text, there are eight different types of Vedic marriages.
Brahmo-daivastathaivarsah
prajapatya-statha ‘surah
Gandharvo raksasascaiva
Paisavastamah smrtah
—-Manusmrti, 3. 21
Meaning: These 8 forms of vedic marriages are Brahma Marriage, Daiva Marriage, Arsha Marriage, Prajapatya Marriage, Gandharva Marriage, Asura Marriage, Rakshasa Marriage, Paishacha Marriage.
In Vedic Astrology, all these 8 types of marriage are considered while analyzing the kundali. However, only in a few of them, kundali can be matched due to the consent business. Marriage is considered a very important cosmic ritual in Vedic tradition. So getting the Kundali Milan before getting into marriage is a must thing to do if you follow Vedic culture. The first and foremost thing while matching the two kundali, is to check the Gun Milaan. Now, What is a Gun Milaan? Let’s decode it.
Gun Milaan
Guna Milaan is the first step in ascertaining marriage compatibility. In Vedic scriptures, there are 36 gunas that are considered for marriage compatibility. Gun Milan is done by the asthakoot process to check to match between bride and groom.
The total number of points under the ashta koot matching makes 36 gunas. 8 different aspects carry a total of 36 points.
Varna: 1 point
Vashya: 2 points
Tara: 3 points
Yoni: 4 points
Grah Maitri: 5 points
Gana: 6 points
Bhakoot: 7 points
Nadi: 8 points
Hence, the total number of gunas is 36.
Now, what are these 8 different aspects? Let’s decrypt that as well.
Varna : It is related to Ego. Person’s personality is divided into 4 (in descending order of preference) – Brahmin (highest), Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra (lowest) (NOTE: This is not to be mistaken with caste). If the groom and bride get 1 point if they have the same “Varna”, or if groom’s “Varna” is higher than the brides.
Vashya : It talks about Power. The control in marriage and power equation between two people. Based on moon sign, person is classified into 5 types – Manav/Nara (Human), Vanchar (big Jungle animals such as lion), Chatuspad (small animals such as deer), Jalchar (animals of the sea), Keeta/Keet (Insects). Full 2 points if groom and bride belong to same Vasya, 0 points for Vashya’s which are opponents (eg: Manav and Vanchar), 1/2 point for Manav-Jalchar combination, and 1 point for the rest.
Tara: This includes the friendship between the birth star of the groom and bride. It talks about the closeness between them. There are 27 birth stars (Nakshatra). The groom’s birth star is counted from the bride’s and this number is divided by 9. The same is done from the girl’s birth star to the boy’s birth star. If both the remainders are Even, it is auspicious and 3 points are allocated. 0 points if both are odd and 1.5 points if one is even.
Yoni: This signifies the sexual affinity between the bride and groom. Based on birth star, the Yoni Koot is classified as one of 14 animals (Horse, Elephant, Sheep, Snake, Dog, Cat, Rat, Cow, Buffalo, Tiger, Hare/Deer, Monkey, Lion, Mongoose). The same animal gets 4 points, whereas enemies (Cow/Tiger, Cat/Rat, Snake/Mongoose, etc) get 0 points. 3 points for friendly Yoni, 2 for neutral, and 1 for not friendly Yoni.
Graha-Maitri : It is related to the harmony of two horoscopes or Rashi. n the birth charts, the celestial lord is assigned to “Rashi” (Moon at time of birth). These are either friends or neutral or enemies. 5 points if Lords of both Rashi (Rasi) are friends; 4 points for 1 friend and 1 neutral, etc. 0 points if both Rashi Lords are enemies.
Gana: It is related to the behavior and temperament of both the boy & girl. irth stars (Nakshatras) are divided into three – Deva (God, indicating Satwa Guna), Manava (Human, indicating Rajo Guna) and Rakshasa (Demon, indicating Tamo Guna). 6 points when the girl and boy belong to the same Gana or when the boy is Manav & girl is Deva. 5 points when the girl is Manav and boy is Deva. 1 point for Deva and Rakshasa and 0 points for Manav and Rakshasa.
Bhakoot: This is regarding love. It is related to the boy’s Rashi moon position and girl’s moon position. The position of the boy’s horoscope Rashi moon position is counted from the girl’s moon position. If the zodiac sign of the bride and the groom matches then 7 Gunas are obtained. Only if the Moons of both are placed at 1/7, 3/11, or 4/10 of each other only then 7 Gunas are obtained. If on the other hand, the placement is at 2/12, 5/9, or 6/8 then no Guna is obtained.
Nadi: This is related to the health and genes of the bride and groom. Stars (Nakshatra) are divided into 3 – Aadi (Vata) Nadi, Madhya (Pitta) Nadi, and Antya (Kapha) Nadi. No points are given if the man and woman’s Nadi Kuta are the same; else 8 points are allocated.
For favoring a marriage, there ought to be not lower than 18 Guna matches between the lady and the husband to be’s horoscopes and vice versa. On the off chance that the coordinating Gunas are lower than 18, at that point, the proposed marriage may be with frictions and flaws. The basic requirement or the minimum points to be achieved in Ashtakoota Guna Milaan is 18. However, there are some exceptional cases where below 18 have found to be enjoying marital bliss, but this is very rare.
Hence, Marriage is a very sacred cosmic ritual in the eye of Veda and since Jyotisha is the eye of veda itself, we can match make the kundali and choose our partners consciously according to our dharma.
