Gaṇa-kūṭa

Gaṇa-kūṭa (गणकूट, also written Gana Koota) is the sixth of the eight kūṭas in the classical Aṣṭa-kūṭa guṇa-milana framework and carries a maximum score of 6 points. Gaṇa in this context names the classical three-fold temperamental classification of the 27 nakshatras into deva-gaṇa (divine-temperament), manuṣya- gaṇa (human-temperament), and rākṣasa-gaṇa (fierce- temperament), with 9 nakshatras assigned to each gaṇa. The kūṭa operates on the pair's Janma-nakshatra gaṇas and scores temperamental-orientation compatibility.

Classical grounding

Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi of Rāma Daivajña names the gaṇa assignments and scoring rules; Nārada Saṃhitā, Bṛhat Jātaka of Varāhamihira, and Jātaka Pārijāta provide extended treatment. The three-fold gaṇa classification draws on older vedāṅga-jyotiṣa material and on classical mythology where certain nakshatras are associated with deities of particular disposition-categories. The classical framing treats gaṇa as a temperamental-disposition register, not a moral classification — the rākṣasa-gaṇa designation names classical intensity and force of temperament, not moral status.

Classification scheme

Classical gaṇa assignments — 9 nakshatras per gaṇa:

Deva-gaṇa (divine-temperament): Aśvinī, Mṛgaśīrṣā, Punarvasu, Puṣya, Hastā, Svātī, Anurādhā, Śravaṇa, Revatī.

Manuṣya-gaṇa (human-temperament): Bharaṇī, Rohiṇī, Ārdrā, Pūrva-Phalgunī, Uttara-Phalgunī, Pūrva-Āṣāḍhā, Uttara-Āṣāḍhā, Pūrva-Bhādrapadā, Uttara-Bhādrapadā.

Rākṣasa-gaṇa (fierce-temperament): Kṛttikā, Aśleṣā, Maghā, Citrā, Viśākhā, Jyeṣṭhā, Mūla, Dhaniṣṭhā, Śatabhiṣā.

This distribution is the standard assignment from Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi; regional traditions occasionally vary the gaṇa for two or three nakshatras, but the 9/9/9 structural balance is consistent across sources.

Scoring rules

Classical scoring matrix for Gaṇa-kūṭa: (1) when both natives' Janma-nakshatras belong to the same gaṇa, the pair classically scores the full 6 points; (2) when one native is deva-gaṇa and the other manuṣya-gaṇa, the pair classically scores 6 points in some classical readings (treating this as fully compatible) and 5 points in others (with the groom-deva-bride-manuṣya scoring higher than the reverse in strict traditional reading); (3) when one native is manuṣya-gaṇa and the other rākṣasa-gaṇa, the pair classically scores 0 points in strict reading, 1 point in extended reading; (4) when one native is deva-gaṇa and the other rākṣasa-gaṇa, the pair classically scores 0 or 1 point — the classical tradition regards this pairing as the most temperamentally-divergent of the gaṇa-pairings; (5) groom- rākṣasa-bride-deva scores classically lower than groom-deva-bride- rākṣasa per the traditional asymmetric reading.

Classical interpretation register

The classical register Gaṇa-kūṭa measures is temperamental- disposition compatibility — the orientation-register of how each native's feeling-mind meets the world (gentle-devic, balanced- human, fierce-rākṣasic). Classical commentators frame the three gaṇas as registers of temperamental-energy rather than as value- hierarchies. A rākṣasa-gaṇa native is classically read as carrying intensity and force; a manuṣya-gaṇa native as balanced-worldly; a deva-gaṇa native as inclined-toward-refinement. The kūṭa's 6- point weighting reflects the classical tradition's view that temperamental-disposition divergence carries more pair-register consequence than the four lower-weighted kūṭas measure. The tradition reports the scoring; interpretation in any specific pair's circumstances is not what the kūṭa prescribes.

Related Concepts

• Varṇa-kūṭa — Aṣṭa-kūṭa 1
• Vaśya-kūṭa — Aṣṭa-kūṭa 2
• Tārā-kūṭa — Aṣṭa-kūṭa 3
• Yoni-kūṭa — Aṣṭa-kūṭa 4
• Graha-maitrī-kūṭa — Aṣṭa-kūṭa 5
• Bhakūṭa-kūṭa — Aṣṭa-kūṭa 7
• Nāḍī-kūṭa — Aṣṭa-kūṭa 8