A mangalacharana (Sanskrit: मङ्गलाचरणम्, romanized: maṅgalācaraṇam)[1] or a mangalashloka[2] is a benedictory verse traditionally featured in the beginning of a Hindu text.[3] Composed in the form of an encomium, a mangalacharana serves both as an invocation and a panegyric to an author's favoured deity, teacher, or patron, intended to induce auspiciousness (maṅgalam).[4] The verse may also be in the form of a divine supplication for the removal of obstacles that might obstruct the completion of the work.[5]
The mangalacharana is a common convention in works of Hindu philosophy, beginning and sometimes also ending with the invocation of a deity.[6] It is sometimes regarded to contain the essence of a given text to which it belongs.[7]
Literature
Bhagavata Purana
The mangalacharana of the Bhagavata Purana addresses Krishna:[8]
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi
Mahabharata
The mangalacharana of the Mahabharata, also featured in the Bhagavata Purana, invokes Narayana (Vishnu), the sages Nara-Narayana, Saraswati, and Vyasa:[9]
nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam
devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁtato jayam udīrayet
Vishnu Purana
The mangalacharana of the Vishnu Purana propitiates Vishnu:[10][11]
om namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
om jitam te puṇḍarīkākṣa namaste viśvabhāvana
namaste 'stu hṛṣīkeśa mahāpuruṣa pūrvaja