Mangalacharana

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

See also

• Phalashruti

References

1. Jacobsen, Knut A.; Aktor, Mikael; Myrvold, Kristina (2014-08-27). Objects of Worship in South Asian Religions: Forms, Practices and Meanings. Routledge. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-317-67594-5.
2. Stainton, Hamsa (2019). Poetry As Prayer in the Sanskrit Hymns of Kashmir. Oxford University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-19-088981-4.
3. Morgan, Les B. (2011). Croaking Frogs: A Guide to Sanskrit Metrics and Figures of Speech. Les Morgan. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-4637-2562-4.
4. Patel, Deven M. (2014-01-07). Text to Tradition: The Naisadhiyacarita and Literary Community in South Asia. Columbia University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-231-16680-5.
5. Misra, Anuj (2022-09-01). Learning With Spheres: The golādhyāya in Nityānanda's Sarvasiddhāntarāja. Taylor & Francis. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-429-01506-9.
6. Halbfass, Wilhelm. Philology and Confrontation: Paul Hacker on Traditional and Modern Vedanta. State University of New York Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-4384-0545-2.
7. Biernacki, Loriliai; Clayton, Philip (2014). Panentheism Across the World's Traditions. Oxford University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-19-998990-4.
8. Prabhupada, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (1979-01-01). The Path of Perfection. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. p. 48. ISBN 978-91-7149-825-0.
9. Prabhupada, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (1972-12-31). Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto: Creation. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-91-7149-634-8.
10. Veda Vyasa. Vishnu Purana English Translation with Sanskrit Text.
11. Alper, Harvey P. (1989-01-01). Mantra. SUNY Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-88706-599-6.