Nāḍī-dośaनाडी दोष(Nadi Dosha)
Classical dosha from same-nāḍī nakshatra matching between prospective spouses; highest-penalty Aṣṭa-kūṭa configuration.
Nāḍī-dośa
Nāḍī-dośa (नाडी दोष, also written Nadi Dosha) names the specific marriage-compatibility affliction that arises when prospective partners share the same nāḍī in the classical Aṣṭakūṭa (eight- fold matching) system. Nāḍī — one of the three classical channel categories (Ādi, Madhya, Antya) — classifies each nakshatra into one of the three groups, and classical matching tradition treats same-nāḍī combinations as the most significant of the eight kūṭa mismatches. The dosha is read exclusively in the marriage- compatibility context; no natal-chart-alone reading of Nāḍī-dośa applies. Classical parihāra rules exist and are routinely invoked — the dosha is frequently cancelled in common chart configurations.
Classical grounding
The Aṣṭakūṭa matching system appears in Brihat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, Muhūrta Cintāmaṇi, and extensively in the dedicated marriage-compatibility literature including Jātaka Pārijāta and regional vivāha-praśna texts. The eight kūṭas — Varṇa, Vaśya, Tārā, Yoni, Graha-maitrī, Gaṇa, Bhakūṭa, Nāḍī — score compatibility on an eight-dimensional scale totalling 36 points. Nāḍī-kūṭa carries 8 points, the highest weight of any single kūṭa, and a Nāḍī-dośa (zero-point result from same-nāḍī match) is classically the most significant of the eight mismatches. The three nāḍīs trace to the Āyurvedic channel framework (vāta, pitta, kapha correspondences in some classical readings) and the classical view is that same-nāḍī union reinforces a single physiological channel rather than balancing across the three.
Chart-configuration detection
The Nāḍī of a nakshatra is one of Ādi (first), Madhya (middle), or Antya (last), cycling across the 27 nakshatras in a specific pattern. Ādi-nāḍī: Aśvinī, Ārdrā, Punarvasu, Uttara Phalgunī, Hasta, Jyeṣṭhā, Mūla, Śatabhiṣā, Pūrva Bhādrapadā. Madhya-nāḍī: Bharaṇī, Mṛgaśīrṣa, Puṣya, Pūrva Phalgunī, Citra, Anurādhā, Pūrva Āṣāḍha, Dhaniṣṭhā, Uttara Bhādrapadā. Antya-nāḍī: Kṛttikā, Rohiṇī, Āśleṣā, Maghā, Svātī, Viśākhā, Uttara Āṣāḍha, Śravaṇa, Revatī. The dosha arises when both prospective partners' natal Chandra-nakshatras share the same nāḍī — eight of eight possible points in the Nāḍī-kūṭa are lost, producing a zero-score result from that single kūṭa.
Classical manifestation pattern
The Nāḍī-dośa pattern classically inclines the union toward health-register difficulty, fertility-register difficulty, or physiological-incompatibility patterns at the Āyurvedic channel level. Classical reading treats this as tendency, not determinism — and explicitly notes that many unions with Nāḍī-dośa present none of the classical difficulties because of parihāra factors. The full Aṣṭakūṭa score across the remaining seven kūṭas, the individual chart strengths, and specific graha placements all modulate the reading. Classical tradition is careful to warn against reading Nāḍī-dośa in isolation from the full compatibility examination.
Parihāra (cancellation) rules
Classical Nāḍī-bhaṅga rules include: (1) same-rāśi partners — if both partners share the same Chandra-rāśi but different nakshatras, the Nāḍī-dośa classically cancels; (2) same-nakshatra partners — same nakshatra but different pādas, the dosha classically cancels; (3) certain rāśi-lord-same combinations (notably partners where both Chandra-rāśi-lords are friendly or identical); (4) nāḍī-śuddhi rules where specific rāśi combinations are classically exempt; (5) strong benefic configurations from Bṛhaspati or Śukra on the partners' 7th-bhāvas classically mitigate. Classical muhūrta practice observes that invoking parihāra requires real classical grounds — the rules are named in the literature, not invented ad hoc to fit a specific union.