[Lines 1-6] The great king Salameyvan Abahay was conceived in the womb of our anointed queen Saňg-Baňḍay, being born unto his Majesty Buddas Siri-Saňgboy Abahay Maharaj, lord by (right of) lineal descent from the great lords of the soil of the Island of Lankā; who promoted the (Buddhist) religion, having comforted the people with showers of (his) boundless, all-embracing, gentle and pure qualities; and who flourished with the prowess of a lion, having ascended his auspicious lion-throne which was like unto a rock of safety, and having exhausted the ichor-like pride of his elephant-like enemies with [his] words which were like unto the terrific roar of a lion.
[His Majesty] born of the twice-anointed queen, received at the very instant of his birth the auspicious unction of yuva–rāja (heir-apparent) and illumined the world with the glory and the majesty of the sun and the moon. With his own valour, he subdued enemies; and with the waters of the unsullied fame [thus] wide-spread, he [anointed] the hands and feet of his people.
[LI. 6-12] He [re-]built the Mirisiviṭi [vehera], the Saňgsen-aram and the Kasub-raj-maha-veher, caused five hundred monks to reside, and honouring [them] with gifts of the four priestly requisites, raised the standard of the religion. By establishing royal medical halls near the Southern Gate of the auspicious high-street in the inner city he allayed the fear of disease. By affording facilities for the cultivation of fields by means of [the tanks] Podonavulu and Puluňḍāvulu, he caused [this] illustrious Laṇkā to prosper, [and thus] dispelled the fear of famine. By inspecting the country, he removed the fear of enemies. In various ways he made converts to Buddhism from divers nationalities, [and] made offerings out of all his wealth. By [celebrating] relic-festivals, he honoured the Buddha-gem. In fulfilment of the resolution [appearing in his words] ‘how shall I honour the Dhammagem,’ he caused the Abhidhamma discourses to be transcribed on plates of gold [and therewith] made a great offering. Yearning in his heart to establish the Buddhist religion, he preached that same Dhamma in the presence of [his] esteemed teacher, and extolled the virtues of the Buddha in his own language.
[LI. 12-14] Our Sovereign Lord, [who has done all these acts and] who is [like unto] a tilaka mark [of adornment] of the Okkāka royal dynasty pinnacle of the Śākya race that was descended from the Solar line, built, in the sixth year after the elevation of his royal canopy, the monastery Salameyvanpavu for the Kapārā fraternity at the Abhayagiri-vihāra and caused monks to take up their residence in it. [His Majesty, moreover] made the four priestly requisites easily procurable and enacted these [following] regulations for the monasteries connected with this fraternity.
[LI. 15-20] [Touching] the villages and lands of Ätvehera appertaining to Abahay-giri-vehera and Sey-giri-vehera, as well as all the villages and lands belonging to the Vihāras attached to these same [establishments] and also those [belonging to] Raj-maha-vehera, the Pariveṇas, the Piyangal monastery, the nunneries and [finally] those villages and lands connected with the incomes accruing to the clergy in common or to individual monks—into none of these shall employés of the royal family enter and take away [therefrom] the farm labourers, carts, oxen and buffaloes, or cut down trees and shrubs [therein]; savages also shall not enter. If there be any murderers [in a village, the king’s employés or officials] may enter [that] village and demand them only, but no wrong shall be done to other villagers who have not abetted [the murderers]. At the expiration of every two years, princes of the royal family may, in claiming the country, demand [the surrender of] perpetrators of the five great offences, but they shall not demand other offenders.
[LI. 20-25] If fines have already been levied by former officials in the manner known to the village, no fines shall be levied again for the offences [with which the villagers were] charged. All the fines levied on lands and villages appertaining to Ätvehera shall be expended on repairs to works in Ätvehera. The former (villagers?) shall not occupy the places they have not occupied before. If there be a dispute concerning the fines levied by princes of the royal family who had gone out to govern the country, [then these] princes and judges shall sit and investigate [the matter] and shall, thereafter, remit whatever [fine] ought to be remitted. If there be any who, after committing murder, have taken refuge in the premises occupied by the Saṅgha, these [murderers] and their abettors shall be tried and sentenced to be exiled to Dam̆bdiv. If, however, there be any who have taken refuge [in temple premises] from other [causes of] fear, no fines on account of lodging shall be exacted from them nor shall they be exiled.
[LI. 26-31] [Officials] shall not take away in anger the gifts granted [to the Church] in full reliance on the efficacy of the Buddhist religion though with prejudice to the royal family. When artificers and holders of village leases take refuge with the monks, any debts that should be recovered [from them] shall be recovered after investigation, but no other [kind of] coercion shall be employed. Lodgings shall not be provided for men sent by royal order in cells wherein monks reside. Cells made over to the community of monks shall not be converted into personal property. If an act of misconduct, such as a tumultuous dispute, arise amongst destitute (?) masters of religious ceremonies, recipients of benefits [from temple property, or] among those who have received cells [to live in], the monks of the [Kapārā ?] Muḷa [fraternity] shall sit [in council] and settle [the dispute]; if the monks cannot settle it, they shall hold a conference with the princes, and, due investigation being made, shall decide [the case] and impose punishment according to merit.
[LI. 31-35] If there be a dispute in respect of the monks’ refusal (?) of gruel, the princes shall be sent to reconcile the monks and induce them to partake of the gruel, but no compulsion shall be exercised to make them accept it. If there be any one who has done any one of these things without royal order, he shall be dismissed from the service. To the Eykäruṇ monastery, which was built by royal order, there shall be granted a payala [of rice ?] from the royal household, [and thus] gruel shall be provided [for the monks]. Those who have gone away, disregarding the rules ordained by the priesthood, shall pay the customary fines and so provide for the partaking of gruel.
[LI. 35-40] In all these places, [namely] in the image house at Abahay-giri-vehera, in the dāgaba, in the Maha-bo-ge, in the Ruvan-pahā, in the refectory, a record shall be kept [of income and expenditure, all details] having been obtained from the six monasteries and from the places belonging to the monks of the two fraternities [or chapters]. This record shall be written up and read out at the end of [every] year before the assembly of senior monks.
At Segiri, too, a record shall be kept, based on information obtained from the places belonging to the monks of the two chapters; and this, also, shall be written up and read out at the end of the year before the assembly of elders. If any are to be admitted to the order they shall be those familiar (?) with the four sections [bhāṇavāra] of the Paritta. Nothing whatever shall be received from those entering the order. The recipients [of such gifts] and donors [thereof] shall not be lodged in the same cell; nor shall four relatives be lodged in one [and the same] cell.
[LI. 40-45] Without transgressing the customary observances, the monks shall be served with vasags according to the scale prescribed by the givers [of contributions] to those cells which are attached to the two fraternities. But those religious preceptors who have committed to memory the Pāli [canonical texts], after having been instructed conformably to the known practice of the cells, shall be served at the places where they reside, though not with vasags.
There shall be admitted such monks as shall, at need, discourse on religious duties. Monks who have entered [the order] contrary to the customs and observances, and who, moreover, live not in harmony [with other monks]—these preceptors of religious ceremonies, as well as those preceptors who countenanced such procedure, shall not be lodged in the same cell [or āvāsa]. These religious preceptors who have been deported to Dam̆badiva [India] by the [king’s] wrath, as well as those who have been dismissed from monastic duties, shall not be allowed to enter again the āvāsa from which they had been expelled. Those preceptors also, who, by admitting them, have brought about dissension among the inmates, shall not be lodged in the same āvāsa.
[LI. 45-50] The officials who have given to others the cattle belonging to the Karvaḷ stall, as well as those who have taken the same for themselves, shall be dismissed from the service. No gifts of land on the tankside shall be accepted save only the tenth part granted out of the villages and the lands belonging to Ätvehera. No agricultural labour shall be performed. The same law shall be observed also at the two āvāsas, Mahanet-pā and Vahadū. Neither here nor in the other āvāsas shall youths of tender age be received into the order. One amuṇa of raw rice and four akas of gold a day [shall be granted] to those who have received lodgings at the Maha-Kapārā-piriveṇa for their maintenance. At the expiration of every year, 1000 [akas] of gold [shall be given] to [meet] the expenses of their robes; the two payalas [sowing-extent of land] in Väligamu for their servants and the men thereof as serfs.
[LI. 51-56] Monks who have appropriated for themselves any article (pasaya, P. paccayo) whatever that is inside or outside the [Kapārā-]piriveṇa, except those requisites (pasaya) assigned to them as recipients of cells [for their maintenance] shall be expelled from the cells, after due investigation has been made thereof by the nobles. Except out of the share allotted to the recipients of cells, villages shall be acquired only when there is a surplus [in temple revenue] after defraying the expenses connected with temple decorations, offerings, repairs, and the wages of monks’ servants.
The appointed masters of religious ceremonies shall act according to former customs. A record shall be kept [of income and expenditure] by means of information obtained from the cells inhabited by the eight persons from the two seats (?) and by the four destitute and the four decrepit persons who have been introduced, with the concurrence of the monks, by the recipients of cells, and [this record] shall be written up and read out before the community of elders at the expiration of [every] year.