The inscription is engraved on a series of slabs originally built into an inside wall of the so-called Häṭa-dā-gē, ‘the Shrine of Sixty Relics’, at Poḷonnaruva. It was discovered by S. M. Burrows in 1885, along with another inscription in the vestibule of the shrine (IN03079) and one in the adjoining portico (IN03078). Consisting of eight lines, the inscription dates from the reign of Kīrti-Niśśaṅka-Malla (1187-1196 A.D.) and provides a tactfully worded exhortation to Buddhist monks to exercise care in the selection of persons for admission to the priesthood and to desist from doing things contrary to the teaching of the Buddha.

Epigraphia Zeylanica
Wickremasinghe, Don Martino de Zilva. (1912-27). ‘No. 16. Poḷonnaruva: Häṭa-dā-gē Inside Wall-Inscription,’ Epigraphia Zeylanica 2, pp. 97-98.

Hail! His Majesty SiriSan̆gabo Vīrarāja NiśśaṁkaMalla Kālin̆ga ParākramaBāhu Cakravarttī, with his mind filed with faith directed to the preservation of the religion for five thousand [years], inasmuch as the protection of the religion belongs to the kings of Ceylon, even though the pious members of the community perform their duties in accordance with the Dharma and the rules of discipline, was pleased to make the following exhortations conducive to the preservation of the religion:—The venerable ones, who are in the position of . . . . teachers and spiritual preceptors, should not, without inquiry, robe foolish, sinful persons who are false and crafty. They should do no improper thing [contrary to] . . . . . . . taught by the Buddha. The guise of a śramaṇa adopted without the virtues (of one) is . . . . . . . . [and] the partaking of food (belonging to another) while one leads an immoral life . . . . . . . . . in hell.

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