What is Bhakoot dosha?
Count from the first Moon sign to the second, then back again, and you get two numbers that always add up to 14: 1 and 1, 2 and 12, 3 and 11, 4 and 10, 5 and 9, 6 and 8, or 7 and 7. It is the pair that names the relation. Four relations pass and score all 7 points; three score nothing.
Each failing relation has its own classical concern. Dwirdwadasha, the 2 and 12, is said to strain finances. Navapancham, the 5 and 9, concerns children. Shadashtaka, the 6 and 8, concerns health and conflict and is the one families worry about most. Bhakoot has no partial credit: it is 7 points or none.
When is Bhakoot dosha cancelled?
The sources give two conditions, and the calculator checks both. The strongest is when both Moon signs share a lord, as Aries and Scorpio share Mars. The next is when the two lords are natural friends in both directions, as the Sun and Mars are for Leo and Aries.
Two further conditions are school-dependent and are reported as reducing the dosha rather than cancelling it: both Moons in the same navamsa sign, and both birth stars ruled by the same planet. In every case the 7 points stay lost. A cancellation answers the classical objection; it does not rewrite the score.
Shadashtak: the 6 and 8
Shadashtak is the Bhakoot relation most often raised by family astrologers. It fails the koota, but it is also the relation most often answered by a cancellation: Aries with Virgo fails outright, while Aries with Scorpio shares Mars as lord and is cancelled. Check the pair before drawing a conclusion.
Bhakoot in the full match
Bhakoot is the second-heaviest of the eight kootas. A couple that loses it can still reach the 18-point threshold, but only with most of the other 29 points intact. Use the 36 Guna Milan or Kundali Matching calculator to see the whole score.