The eight kootas
Graha Maitri Koota: Planetary Friendship and Mental Compatibility
By Match Kundli Editorial Team · Updated · 4 min read
Graha Maitri koota is worth 5 points and compares the planets that rule the two Moon signs. The friendlier those two planets are towards each other under the classical scheme of natural friendship, the higher the score, up to the full 5 when they are mutual friends or when both Moon signs share the same ruler. Tradition links this koota with mental compatibility: how easily two people understand each other and communicate day to day.
Working it out takes two small tables, one of sign rulers and one of planetary friendships, both of which are set out below.
Which planet rules each Moon sign
Graha Maitri uses the seven traditional planets. Rahu and Ketu, the lunar nodes, do not rule signs in this scheme.
| Moon sign | Ruler | Moon sign | Ruler |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Mars | Libra | Venus |
| Taurus | Venus | Scorpio | Mars |
| Gemini | Mercury | Sagittarius | Jupiter |
| Cancer | Moon | Capricorn | Saturn |
| Leo | Sun | Aquarius | Saturn |
| Virgo | Mercury | Pisces | Jupiter |
Five planets rule two signs each, while the Sun and the Moon rule one each. That is why two people can have different Moon signs and still score the full 5 points: a Gemini Moon and a Virgo Moon, for example, are both ruled by Mercury.
Natural friendship between the planets
The classical texts, notably Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, describe how each planet regards the others: as a friend, as neutral, or as an enemy. These relationships are not always mutual, which is what makes the koota interesting.
| Planet | Friends | Neutral | Enemies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Moon, Mars, Jupiter | Mercury | Venus, Saturn |
| Moon | Sun, Mercury | Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn | none |
| Mars | Sun, Moon, Jupiter | Venus, Saturn | Mercury |
| Mercury | Sun, Venus | Mars, Jupiter, Saturn | Moon |
| Jupiter | Sun, Moon, Mars | Saturn | Mercury, Venus |
| Venus | Mercury, Saturn | Mars, Jupiter | Sun, Moon |
| Saturn | Mercury, Venus | Jupiter | Sun, Moon, Mars |
Look at the Moon and Mercury: the Moon counts Mercury as a friend, but Mercury counts the Moon as an enemy. Mars and the Moon show a gentler version of the same imbalance, with Mars treating the Moon as a friend and the Moon treating Mars as neutral.
How the five points are worked out
The koota looks at the relationship in both directions, from the boy's ruler to the girl's and back, and scores the combination:
| Relationship, both directions | Points |
|---|---|
| Same ruler, or friends both ways | 5 |
| Friend one way, neutral the other | 4 |
| Neutral both ways | 3 |
| Friend one way, enemy the other | 1 |
| Neutral one way, enemy the other | 0.5 |
| Enemies both ways | 0 |
This matches the standard Graha Maitri table found in most matching guides, so the score here should agree with other calculators.
Worked examples
The site's three worked examples, built from fictional birth details and run through the real engine, cover two of these rows:
- Example 3: a Taurus Moon (ruled by Venus) with a Capricorn Moon (ruled by Saturn). Venus counts Saturn as a friend and Saturn counts Venus as a friend, so the koota scores the full 5.
- Examples 1 and 2: a Pisces Moon (Jupiter) with a Capricorn Moon (Saturn). Jupiter is neutral towards Saturn and Saturn is neutral towards Jupiter, which gives 3.
The other rows are easy to find from the tables. A Cancer Moon (Moon) with a Gemini Moon (Mercury) scores 1, because the friendship runs only one way and is answered with enmity. An Aries Moon (Mars) with a Gemini Moon (Mercury) scores 0.5, since Mars sees Mercury as an enemy while Mercury is merely neutral. A Leo Moon (Sun) with a Libra Moon (Venus) scores 0: each ruler regards the other as an enemy.
What Graha Maitri is said to reveal
Tradition treats the sign rulers as a window on outlook and thinking. When they are friends, the couple are expected to "see eye to eye" on everyday matters, as the detailed report on this site puts it. When they are enemies, mutual understanding is expected to take more deliberate effort, especially early in the relationship. The koota says nothing about affection or attraction, which belong to Vashya and Yoni, but it is often what families mean when they talk about two people being "on the same wavelength".
At 5 points it is the heaviest of the sign-based kootas after Bhakoot, and a swing between 0 and 5 here is enough to carry a borderline total across the 18 or 24 mark.
Graha Maitri and Bhakoot Dosha
Graha Maitri has a second role in many traditions. When the two Moon signs produce Bhakoot Dosha, astrologers often check whether the two sign rulers are the same planet or natural friends, and treat the dosha as softened if they are. Example 3 is exactly that case: Bhakoot scores 0, but Graha Maitri scores 5 because Venus and Saturn are mutual friends.
The calculator on this site does not change the Bhakoot score in such cases, but the result card notes that some traditions consider the dosha diluted when the rulers are friends. The full picture is in Bhakoot koota and Bhakoot Dosha, and the overview of the eight kootas shows how the sign-based kootas fit together. To find where the score sits on your own report, see the step-by-step report guide.