Tara is the third koota — 3 of 36 points that read general wellbeing and luck between two people, counted from the distance between their birth nakshatras, checked both ways.
Tara Koota looks at general wellbeing, health, and fortune between two partners, using the birth nakshatra (one of the 27 lunar constellations the Moon occupies at birth) rather than the broader Moon sign used by Varna and Vashya. It's worth 3 of the 36 Ashtakoot points and, unlike most kootas, is calculated twice — once from the groom's nakshatra counting to the bride's, and once the reverse — because the classical view is that each partner's influence on the other's wellbeing needs checking independently.
Starting from one partner's birth nakshatra as "1," count forward through the 27 nakshatras to the other partner's birth star, then take that count modulo 9 — the result lands in one of nine named Tara categories, each with a classical reading:
Each direction (groom-to-bride and bride-to-groom) contributes up to 1.5 points depending on how auspicious its Tara category is, for a combined maximum of 3. Landing on Vipat, Pratyak, or especially Vadha Tara in either direction is read as a caution around health or general wellbeing rather than the relationship's emotional core — which is why it's weighed alongside, not instead of, kootas like Graha Maitri and Nadi.
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Because each partner's placement is read as influencing the other's wellbeing separately — the groom's nakshatra counted to the bride's can land in a different Tara than the reverse, so both are checked and combined.
Vadha (the 7th count) is the most cautioned Tara category, classically associated with conflict or harm. It's one input among many, not a standalone verdict on the match.
It's the specific Ashtakoot factor for it — related to but distinct from Nadi Koota, which also uses the birth nakshatra but reads a different classification (health/genetic type) entirely.
Yes — that lands on Janma Tara (count of 1), read as neutral rather than strongly auspicious or inauspicious.