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.
[7] The mangalacharana of the Bhagavata Purana addresses Krishna:[8] oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāyajanmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭtene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥtejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣādhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahiDivisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas 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 narottamamdevīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁtato jayam udīrayetThe mangalacharana of the Vishnu Purana propitiates Vishnu:[10][11] om namo bhagavate vāsudevāyaom jitam te puṇḍarīkākṣa namaste viśvabhāvananamaste 'stu hṛṣīkeśa mahāpuruṣa pūrvaja