The inscription is engraved on a slab found lying 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 appears to have been erected very soon after a similar inscribed slab (IN03061) found in the same area. The present inscription consists of 60 lines in the Sinhalese alphabet of the 10th and early 11th centuries A.D. The middle part of the slab is damaged, rending the inscription is largely illegible from line 6 to line 39. The inscription does include a date but, due to the damaged condition of the slab, the year – tentatively read by Wickremasinghe as the eighth of Mahinda’s IV’s reign – is unclear. The text starts with a short account of Mahinda IV and his charitable works. It then deals principally with the regulations instituted by Mahinda IV at the Abhayagiri-vihāra soon after completing the reparation of the dāgaba and other buildings attached to the monastery. The stone statue of Buddha mentioned in line 45 of the inscription may be the same as the one that was seen by the Chinese pilgrim Fâ-hien at the Abhayagiri-vihāra when he visited Ceylon in the 5th century A.D.
[Lines 1-6] Hail! The great king [Siri San̆gbo] Abay was born unto the great king Abay Salamevan, the Kṣatriya lord, descended from the royal line of the Okkāka dynasty which, abounding in an assemblage of benignant, boundless, and transcendental virtues, has caused other Kṣatriya dynasties of the whole of Jambudvīpa to render it 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 the effulgence of his fame he filled the ten directions, and with his glory he illumined the Island of Laṅkā.
[Lines 6-14] He adorned the three great stone statues of the Buddha at . . . . . . . with parasols (diffusing [the glitter of] various gems) like rainbows (on rain clouds) . . . . . . . the gem-set bowl used by the Buddha . . . . . . . (the great festival of the golden parasol) . . . . . . . ; (he built) the beautiful Man̆gul–piriven for the monastery at [Vahadū ?] . . . . . . ; he built a lofty relic-house; Bamuṇu . . . . . . ; he made . . . . . . . . . and dammed the rivers and channels connected [therewith]; [he repaired] the dilapidated [tanks and ponds] and by means of the water thus supplied he [put an end to] scarcity of food in the Island of Ceylon. He made the people float on the flood of his gifts . . . . . (and caused . . . . to enter the Order).
[Lines 14-18] With the prowess of victorious lords, displayed in the precincts of the Palace, constantly filled with the wonderful presents offered by various kings of Jambudvīpa, he brought glory upon prosperous Laṅkā. [He bestowed] reverential offerings on the ‘Triple Gem’, robes on monks who observe . . . . . (patronage) on the learned, (help on his kindred,) . . . . . . . . sympathy on all beings, and . . . . . . on truth-tellers. With the gentleness that assuages the majesty . . . . . .
[Lines 19-30] On the . . . day . . . . . . . . in (the eighth) year after this great king [Siri San̆gbo] Abay raised the canopy of dominion, His Majesty having effected [improvements] at the Abhayagiri–cētiya . . . . . . . . . . . . . enacted the [following] regulations:—
In the Abhayagiri–vihāra, both inside and outside, the villages and lands connected with the incomes accruing to the clergy in common or to individual monks, as well as those connected with the . . . . . āvāsa (residence) of the Director of Religious Ceremonies of the Order shall in no wise be or be enjoyed . . . . . . . . . . . . Those who have transferred [lands] shall be deported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In the capacity of laymen [these lands] shall not be enjoyed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . shall protect, but laymen [shall not cut down] trees [and plants].
[Lines 30-40] Monks shall be invited [for religious ceremonies] in accordance with the Buddhist code. Those who have received invitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to the monks in the āvāsa (residence) . . . . . They shall enjoy whilst residing . . . . . . They shall claim the income, but they shall not claim . . . . of the villages and lands connected with the income. When lands (are cultivated ?) they shall not be (cultivated) for excessive profit . . . . . . but they shall not be given [for cultivation] on tithe tenure. [Lands] attached to this Vihāra shall not be given . . . . . . . . . The grantors shall be deported, while the grantees shall have no proprietary right. [Monks] shall enjoy [the income accruing] to the attached residences while living in them, but they shall not enjoy [the same] while dwelling in the chief residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . it shall be in the residence . . . . . They shall reside in [conformity with] the income . . . . . should there be any commission of wrong, competent persons shall sit [in session] and award punishment, but the income [from endowments] shall not be appropriated to the State.
[Lines 40-51] [The income of] the villages set apart for repairs [of buildings] shall not be devoted to [the provision of] food and raiment [to monks], but shall be utilized for repairs. When there are no villages set apart for repairs, the surplus [of the revenue] that remains after providing food and raiment, according to ancient usage, shall be used for effecting repairs. Should there be no surplus remaining after providing food and raiment, half of the income on account of raiment shall be spent on repairs. The wardens who have not acted in this manner shall be sent away from residence. Whatever remains after repairs have been effected at (Naka . . . .) Vihāra, at the shrine of the great stone statue [of the Buddha], at the Ruvan–pahā, at the Abaya–turā–maha–sǟ . . . . at the shrine of the sacred Bo-tree, at Sǟ–giri and at (Näṭä–giri) shall be kept as communal property, but shall not be allowed to be appropriated by those having the handling of it.
Every year the monks of the six āvāsas shall be convened, and (before them) there shall be read out the records kept by the temple officials . . . . . . . . in connexion with the income derived and the expenses incurred at the aforementioned places, as well as in connexion with lands given to serfs on nimi tenure and dasa-kärä tenure. Should any dispute arise in regard to these matters, the royal officers [of the ‘Curia Regis’ ?] . . . . shall hold session and settle the dispute.
[Lines 51-56] The regulations thus enacted should always be maintained with due regard by the descendants of our dynasty, the Kṣatriya lords devoted to the Buddha, who [of yore] have received the assurance [made by] the omniscient Lord of Sages, the pinnacle of the Śākya race, that none but the Bōdhisattas would become kings of prosperous Laṅkā; who are wont to wear the white scarf to serve and attend on the great community of monks on the very day they celebrate the coronation festival after attaining to the dignity of kingship, bestowed by the great community of monks for the purpose of defending ‘the bowl and the robe’ of the Buddha.
[Lines 56-60] These regulations should also be observed by the great community of monks belonging to the line of teachers, the servants of the Dharma, who do not transgress the Path of the Law, whose thoughts are bent upon the observation of the precepts and the elimination of passion, who preserve the Buddhist religion even though [in so doing] they sacrifice their life, realizing cause for fear even in faults of a trivial nature (so much as the plucking off of disagreeable (?) plants caught in the two hands . . . . . . . . whilst there flourish young monks who are like unto flames of fire at the end of the world cycle and who shine in the midst of Nun̆gahal–kaṇ̆ḍ).