1. Introductory verse and sūtra
(1-3) Siddham! Victorious is he indeed at first, he who [is endowed] with ten abilities … who is surrounded by an abundance of light, the illustrious one, [the destroyer?] of darkness in the three worlds … Moreover, victorious is the dharma-lotus, that which causes the stilling of passion born in one’s heart and [also] the noble and foremost one [i.e. the saṅgha], [the preserver?] of the word of the Wise One, possessing a multitude of virtues.
2. Sūtra
(3-5) Thus I have heard at one time when the Blessed One was dwelling at Vārāṇasī, in the deer-park R̥ṣipatana, together with a great community of monks, seven hundred monks and many Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas.
(5-6) Now, the Blessed One dressed himself in the morning, took his begging bowl and [outer-]garments and entered the city of Vārāṇasī together with the venerable Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Ajita as attending monk (paścācchramaṇa) with the intention of obtaining alms.
(7-8) Thereupon, while walking through the city of Vārāṇasī in regular order (sāvadānam) with the intention of obtaining alms, the Blessed One arrived at the house of the Brahman woman Śrīmatī, and stood to one side waiting for alms.
(8-12) The Brahman woman Śrīmatī had already seen the Blessed One from a distance: He was gracious, pleasing, with calm senses and of calm mind, being perfectly accomplished in tranquillity and self-restraint and having reached perfection in the highest tranquillity. He was calm, restrained, controlled, blameless and had mastered his senses. He was endowed with the highest excellence of beautiful complexion. He was clear, bright and pure like a lake, upright, unshakable and immovable like a golden sacrificial post, and blazing, shining, radiating and illuminating with his majesty.
(12-17) Her mind was filled with trust on beholding him. With a mind full of trust she approached the Blessed One. And after she had honoured with her head the feet of the Blessed One as well as [the feet] of the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Ajita, and had then bowed with folded hands in the direction of the Blessed One she said to the Blessed One: “Welcome, Blessed One, welcome, Blessed One! Please sit down on the prepared seat, Blessed One!” The Blessed One and the Bodhisattva- Mahāsattva Ajita sat down according to their status.
Then, knowing that the Blessed One and the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Ajita were comfortably seated, the Brahman woman Śrīmatī bowed with folded hands in the direction of the Blessed One and addressed the Blessed One: (17-19) “Blessed One, I have heard that in the city of Vārāṇasī, in the deer-park R̥ṣipatana, the Wheel of the Doctrine was set in motion by the Blessed One. Blessed One, what kind of doctrine is it that was initiated by the Blessed One?”
(19-23) When the Blessed One was thus addressed, he said to the Brahman woman Śrīmatī: “Śrīmatī, conditioned by ignorance are karmic predispositions; conditioned by karmic predispositions is consciousness; conditioned by consciousness are name and form; conditioned by name and form are the six sense-fields; conditioned by the six sense-fields is contact; conditioned by contact is sensation; conditioned by sensation is craving; conditioned by craving is grasping; conditioned by grasping is coming into being; conditioned by coming into being is birth; conditioned by birth arise old age, death, grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation, and despair. Such is the origin of the whole great mass of suffering.
(23-27) From the cessation of ignorance follows the cessation of karmic predispositions; from the cessation of karmic predispositions follows the cessation of consciousness; from the cessation of consciousness follows the cessation of name and form; from the cessation of name and form follows the cessation of the six sense-fields; from the cessation of the six sense-fields follows the cessation of contact; from the cessation of contact follows the cessation of sensation; from the cessation of sensation follows the cessation of craving; from the cessation of craving follows the cessation of grasping; from the cessation of grasping follows the cessation of coming into being; from the cessation of coming into being follows the cessation of birth; following from the cessation of birth old age, death, grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation, and despair are destroyed. Such is the cessation of the whole great mass of suffering.
(27-29) Śrīmatī, this is the Wheel of the Doctrine, that was set in motion by the Realized One in the city of Vārāṇasī, in the deer park ôṣipatana, not to be set in motion in the right way by a monk or a brahman or a god or a Māra or a Brahmā or anybody else in the world.”
(29-30) Thus spoke the Blessed One, and with pleased minds the Brahman woman Śrīmatī and the Bodhisattva Ajita, and the world with its gods, humans, Asuras, and Gandharvas approved of the speech of the Blessed One.
3. Verse quoted from Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikāḥ
I salute the supreme teacher, the Fully Awakened One who has taught Dependent Origination, the blessed stilling of conceptual proliferation, free of cessation and origination, of destruction and permanence, of identity and difference, of coming and going.
4. Donation formula
(33-39) In the sixty-eighth year on the seventh day of the bright half of the month Kārttika [corresponding to October-November]: On this day this caitya of the Realized One containing relics (dhātugarbha) was established by
- the lord of a great monastery (mahāvihārasvāmin), the son of Opanda, the Tālagānika-Devaputra-Ṣāhi, …,
- together with [his] father Opanda,
- together with [his] wife, the daughter of the Sārada-Ṣāhi, [named] Buddh. …,
- together with the mistress of a great monastery Arccavāmanā,
- together with [her] father Ho..gaya,
- [and] with [her] mother, the queen (mahādevī) …,
- together with the spiritual friend (kalyāṇamitra), the religious teacher (ācārya) Ratnāgama,
- together with the great Ṣāhi (mahāṣāhi) Khīṅgīla,
- together with the god-king (devarāja) Toramāna,
- together with the mistress of a great monastery Sāsā,
- together with the great Ṣāhi Mehama,
- together with Sādavīkha,
- together with the great king (mahārāja) Javūkha, the son of Sādavīkha; during the reign of Mehama.
5. Verses of praise and good wishes
Whose stūpas even today light up the earth–mountain-like [stūpas] resembling the colour of white frost, pearl necklaces, white water lilies, crystals and conch-shells, raised high by parasols and possessing railings, with flames made up of waving flags, and worshipped by those who are worthy of being honoured by the three worlds–, one bows down with the head before this Victorious One, He, whose feet are touched by the crowns [i.e. by the rays of jewels on the crowns] of men.
… May the world for you rapidly be freed from sword fights and arrow strikes, [and] soon become equal to the abode of the Brāhma-gods.
May the stūpas by which this earth is filled up, [stūpas] containing relics of the Sugata, who has attained tranquillity, headed by one/those made by Dāmana(?), stand for a Kalpa, as long as the Lord of the Mountains [i.e. Meru], inhabited by the kings of gods.
May that country of mine, in which this pure and exalted body [i.e., the stūpa or the relics], the basis for understanding, is located, remain happy, and be freed from famine, severe illness and diseases, as well as freed from dissension, and attain peace.
[The place] here, which is the reason for our birth, which is adorned with stūpas resembling a multitude of [white] autumn clouds, …, [and or like] lotus ponds, the surface of which has been purified by thousands of sunrays, …, may this great village of the noble ones (āryagrāma) be constantly frequented by exalted beings [just] like heaven.
May the three castes (trivarga) residing in Śārdīysa, who find delight in …, who have given up clinging, who are patient, have turned away from the fault of violence, desist from the error of [using] harsh and malignant words, of faithful mind, …, delighting in friendly words, have reached mental balance, … be long-lastingly unwavering (aviskhalita).
May the heroes of renunciation succeed, but may he who is an enemy of the power and strength of the community (kula) be destroyed. May those who are worthy of worship prosper in their collection of a host of good deeds. May there be abundance of grains. May the stūpas containing relics be worshipped … for a long time. [May] the king amongst the donors, one who embodies righteousness, be one who enjoys the happiness of [mental] peace …