Mangalacharana
A mangalacharana or a mangalashloka is a benedictory verse traditionally featured in the beginning of a Hindu text. 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 . 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.
The mangalacharana'' is a common convention in works of Hindu philosophy, beginning and sometimes also ending with the invocation of a deity. It is sometimes regarded to contain the essence of a given text to which it belongs.