The inscription is engraved on a slab found lying in what was at the time believed to be the Jētavanārāma area, not far from the ‘stone canoe’ (trough) on the outer circular road in Anurādhapura. This area has since been shown to be the Abhayagiri monastery complex. The slab was examined by Bell in 1890. The inscription consists of 55 lines in the Sinhalese alphabet of the 10th and early 11th centuries A.D. The surface of the slab is damaged, rending the inscription is partly illegible from line 19 to the end. The date of the inscription is given in lines 43 and 44 but the name of the king and the number of the regnal year are in great part obliterated. The text gives an account of the Abhayagiri-vihāra and a general survey of the charitable acts of Mahinda IV (called by his title Siri Saňgbo Abā), as well as the religious monuments he erected and repaired.
[Lines 1-5.] Hail! The great king [Siri San̆g]bo Abā was born unto the great king Siri San̆gbo Abā, the Kṣatriya Lord, descended from the royal line of the Okkāka dynasty, which abounds in a multitude of boundless and benignant virtues, and which has [thereby] caused other Kṣatriya dynasties of the whole of Dam̆badiva to render homage, [he was born] in the womb of the anointed queen Dev Gon, of equal birth and descent. After enjoying the dignities of governor and chief-governor, he in due course became king, and was anointed on his head, resplendent with the bejewelled crown, with the unction of world supremacy. With his glory he illumined the Island of Laṅkā; with the prowess of victorious lords, displayed in the precincts of the Palace constantly filled with the wonderful presents offered by kings of various lands, he brought glory upon prosperous Laṅkā. With [the rise of] his majestic power he drove away from Laṅkā the Dravidian foe, just as the rising sun dispels darkness from the sky, and sheds lustre upon the world.
[Lines 5-7.] In gentleness he was like the moon, in depth [of character] the ocean, in firmness the mount Mēru, in wealth the Lord of Riches (Kubēra); he was a mine of good qualities, an abode of the ten kingly virtues, a jewel casket for the ‘Triple Gem,’ the supporting pillar for the religion of the Sage, the goddess Śrī for every prosperity, and the mainstay of the world.
[Lines 8-13.] The Abāgiri Vehera, which displays the grace of the abode of Śrī at the moment when Mahadämi residing in . . . Ārāma [experiences the joy of association] with the Dharma, just as Vāsudēva enjoys the bliss of union with Śrikānta on the couch of [the serpent] Ananta; in which (Vihāra) there rises in splendour the Ruvan–maha–pahā surrounded by the noble Parivēṇas, like unto the golden Mēru centred by the Kuḷa-gal; where around [the residences of] the four fraternities is shed the effulgence of the shrine of the image of the Lord of Sages, like the lustre of the Ruvan-pav around the abodes of the four regent gods; where dwell bands of scholars directing their wisdom to great literary works and adorning the Abayaturā–maha–sǟ, just as a flight of garuḍas hovers with widespread wing over rows of serpents on the Himālayan range; which resounds with the voice of those versed in the scriptures, expounding the Dharma; which is adorned by virtuous men as by mines of gems; where flourish like unto an assemblage of coral tendrils numbers of Śākya śramaṇas (Buddhist monks) endowed with the virtues of temperance, contentment, and religious austerity; whose broad and white ramparts rise aloft like the waves (of the ocean); which waxes with the offerings to the Lord of Sages; where frequent various teachers of eminence, as the great fishes Timi and Timiṅgala [gambol in the sea]; and over which [Abhayagiri-vihāra] presides the Head of the Dhammaruci [fraternity], just as the sea-god [over the sea].
[Lines 14-20.] Of the cētiya built [in this Vihāra] his Majesty renewed the brickwork and made it shine like a golden islet; he rebuilt the edifices surrounding it, set the eyes of the great stone statue of Mahinda with large brilliant rubies, and made a network of gold for the feet. He repaired the roof, thirty-five cubits [in length], of Kasub–rad–maha–pahā (the great edifice of king Kasub), built the monument Pusarbā–pahā, erected the great alms-hall at Yaṭabähila, which was set apart for providing the requisites for the great community of monks, and repaired the Udā–Agbo, Mastoṭu Mi(ti)-Kasub–giri [Vihāras]. He built anew the great upōsatha hall [named] Diya–sen, which displayed the grace of pilisat to the Lord of Sages in summer . . . in the beautiful Denā–vehera. [Like] the golden Mēru shining with gems of various kinds . . . he raised . . . with . . . work. He made an orb of the sun like unto a wheel of gems, which rolls to his hands as the fruit of his meritorious work. With a golden parasol like the orb of the sun shining on the Orient Mount, he adorned the head of the image [of the Lord of Sages], and with golden capital-topped pillars at the four corners, which displayed the splendour of his majesty widespread over the four continents, he made . . .
[Lines 20-25.] He gilded the Sid–dāgab (white dāgaba). Like wealth acquired by virtuous men and as . . . with great exertion, the community of monks of the Kasub–rad–piriven . . .
By the great king, his grandfather who had decided upon the building of the great monument Miṇimevulā–maha–pahā, like the determination of a Bōdhisatta, repairs were [effected] . . . He rebuilt the pāsāda at the Viḷuvana–vehera; he gilded the statue of the Bōdhisatta in the Nil–pahā; all . . . he erected the guest-hall attached to the . . . ; [he . . .] the bronze (work) in the Ruvan–pahā of the Mahamevnā–maha–vehera; he set up flag-posts like columns of victory ; . . . faces (adorned with) solar orbs which were like unto the reflection of the sun-god Mitra. He adorned the four corners with golden capital-topped pillars like the four cardinal attributes of royalty, and . . . the statues of the four Buddhas with dalavulatna.
[Lines 26-30.] He caused to be set with rubies the eyes of the incomplete colossal statue in stone [of the Buddha], which displayed the grace of . . . He completed the Huligam–piriven, which had been half finished by the great king, his brother, [and is situated at] Mihi . . ., where he had resided enjoying the dignity of governor (ǟpā). He built a great edifice (mahā–pāsāda) at Isurmaṇu–veher, and erected the Mārā hall for the abundant supply of . . . at the Maha–sǟ. The warden of the monastery at Mirisiviṭi–veher . . . at Sihigiri–maha-(sǟ). He gilded the relic casket for the (book) Daham–san̆guṇ which the great king, his grandfather, had caused to be written . . . The Ruvan–dāgab . . . He made a noble casket for the tooth relic of the King of Sages, like unto the crest jewel on the crown of Anurāpura . . . Sutursa-(-n̆garā) . . .
[Lines 31-35.] He built a relic-house like unto a big ship well filled with . . . and heaping up the manifold and diverse meritorious deeds he had performed . . . He established the great alms-hall Purimālā, and also the great alms-hall for the nuns. Whenever a motherless sick child is seen . . . He established kitchens and medical halls, and repaired the nunneries belonging to communities of helpless nuns . . . He built the Rak–sǟ–ge like unto a casket for the jewel of the Urṇa hair relic, and repaired all the great stūpas . . . In the Atuḷā Vihāra he made a golden image of the Lord of Sages of his own size . . .
[Lines 36-45.] Wearing the insignia (of royalty), including the beautiful crown, he mounted the scale pans and weighed himself and the bridge (?) of alms . . . to the great community of pious mendicants in the Kir–bimb–vehera, who are well versed in the four (noble) truths . . . He made the prosperous Laṅkā a common ground for various peoples of various appearances who came from diverse countries . . . The holy (ones) who, wearing the saffron-coloured robes, satisfied the world with showers of bountifulness . . . In the well-conducted community of monks . . . the king with his crown . . . Having given [to the priesthood] gifts composed of royal ornaments including the crown (he promoted charity) . . . Kindly services to those engaged in religious observances, patronage to the learned, offerings to the Dharma . . . He made all wisdom and all good deeds his own treasure. In the . . . year after this great king [Siri–San̆g]bo Abā [who has done all these acts] raised the canopy of dominion, on the tenth day of the waxing moon in the month of Poson (May-June), the chief of the monks, Mahinda, . . . filled with great faith in the Buddhist religion . . . and [endowed] with dear intelligence . . .
[Lines 46-49.] Like the fruits which the great tree of his [i.e. the king’s] liberality bore to the Saṇgha . . . Like a passion burnt out of his heart he always . . . pleased with the Daham–säk of the Lord Buddha . . . he placed (it) on the back of the state-elephant and caused (it) to be taken round the city.
[The text beyond this is in verse, and, with the exception of a letter here and there, is illegible.]