# आयतन (āyatana)

Canonical page: https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/ayatana

आयतन (āyatana) is a Sanskrit word meaning resting-place, home, or abode, the place of the sacred fire, an altar, a shed for sacrifices, a sanctuary, a plot of ground or the site of a house. Its 19 recorded definitions are grouped into 6 contexts, among them General Place, Dwelling, or Support, Sacred or Ritual Place, Barn or Storage Structure.

- **Root:** यत् (yat)
- **SLP1:** `Ayatana`  **IAST:** āyatana  **Devanagari:** आयतन
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80yatana
- **Declensions:** 48 forms — https://sanskritlexicon.com/word/ayatana/declensions.md

## Meanings by context

### General Place, Dwelling, or Support (10 definitions)
- resting-place, home, or abode  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (H2) [Printed book page 148,1] आ - यतन (ā-yatana) n. resting-place, support, seat, place, home, house, abode, Taittirīya-saṃhitā (Title); Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa (Title); Chāndogya-upaniṣad (Title); Aitareya-brāhmaṇa (Title); Manu-smṛti (Title); Yājñavalkya (Author); Kumāra-sambhava (Title) &c. [ ID=25729 ]
- 1. Place, abode, or seat. 2. Fireplace. 3. Sacred precinct or temple. 4. Barn.  
  *Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 041-1 ] आयतन (āyatana) ā-yát-ana, n. place, abode, seat ( -tva, n. abst. ɴ. ); fire-place; sacred precinct, temple; barn. [ ID=3757 ]
- 1. Abode or house. 2. An altar or sacrificial shed. 3. A ground plot or house site. 4. The cause of disease.  
  *Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आयत (āyata) न (āyatana) [Printed book page 117 ] आयत (āyata) न (āyatana) n. ( - नं (-naṃ) ) 1 Abode, house. 2 An altar, also a shed for sacrifices. 3 A ground plot, the site of a house, &c. 4 The cause of disease. E. आयत (āyata) nominal root, to lengthen, affix ल्युट् (lyuṭ); extending from the house. [ ID=5657 ]
- 1. A house, resting place, or abode. 2. The place of the sacred fire. 3. A sanctuary. 4. A receptacle.  
  *Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 105-18 ] आयतन (āyatana) n. 1. A resting place, a house, an abode; 2. the place of the sacred fire; 3. a sanctuary; 4. receptacle, abode, स्नेहस्तदेकायतनं जगाम (snehastadekāyatanaṃ jagāma) K.S. vii.5, R. iii.36. [ ID=5288 ]
- 1. Abode or house. 2. An altar or sacrificial shed. 3. A ground plot or house site. 4. The cause of disease.  
  *Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आयत (āyata) न (āyatana) [Printed book page 096-b ] आयत (āyata) न (āyatana) n. ( - नं (-naṃ) ) 1. Abode, house. 2. An altar, also a shed for sacrifices. 3. A ground plot, the site of a house, &c. 4. The cause of disease. E. आयत (āyata) nominal root, to lengthen, affix ल्युट्; (lyuṭ;) extending from the house. [ ID=5655 ]
- 1. A place. 2. A seat. 3. An outhouse. 4. An altar.  
  *Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 0083-b ] आयतन (āyatana) āyatana, i. e. ā-yat + ana n. 1. A place, Cāṇ. 32. 2. A seat, Man. 6, 77; Pañc. 32, 23. 3. An out- house, Yājñ. 2, 154. 4. An altar, Pañc. 199, 12. — Comp. Deva- and de- vatā-, n. a temple, Man. 4, 46; 8, 248. [ ID=1625 ]
- 1. A foothold, support, or seat. 2. A sanctuary or fireplace. 3. A barn.  
  *Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 065 ] आयतन (āyatana) n. foot-hold, support, seat, object of (—°); fire-place, sanctuary; barn. [ ID=4449 ]
- 1. A resting-place. 2. A place for the sacred fire.  
  *Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 126-a ] āyátana, n. foot-hold; resting-place; esp. place of the sacred fire, fire-place. [ √yat + ā. ] [ ID=639 ]
- 1. A resting-place, home, or abode. 2. A place for the sacred fire, altar, or sanctuary. 3. A ground-plot or site for a house. 4. An inner seat of perception. 5. The cause of disease.  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872)*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 0126-b ] Ā-yatana, am, n. resting-place, support, seat, place, home, house, abode; the place of the sacred fire, an altar, a shed for sacrifices; a sanctuary; a ground-plot, the site of a house; a barn; (with Bud- dhists) an inner seat (the five senses and Manas are considered as the six inner seats or āyatanas); the Page0126-c+ 75 cause of disease. —Āyatana-tva, am, n. state of being an altar or seat. —Āyatana-vat, ān, atī, at, Ved. having a certain seat or home; ( ān ), m., N. of the fourth foot of Brahmā. [ ID=8987 ]
- An abode, home, or sanctuary.  
  *The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 1-060 ] Ā-yatana. — The general sense of ‘abode’ or ‘home’ appears to be limited in one passage of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (vii. 24, 2) to the sense of ‘holy place,’ ‘sanctuary,’ which is found in the epic. [ ID=247 ]

### Sacred or Ritual Place (5 definitions)
- the place of the sacred fire  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the place of the sacred fire (= अग्न्य् - आयतन (agny-āyatana) ), Kātyāyana-śrauta-sūtra (Title); Āśvalāyana-śrauta-sūtra (Title) & Āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra (Title) [ ID=25730 ]
- an altar  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > an altar [ ID=25731 ]
- a shed for sacrifices  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a shed for sacrifices [ ID=25732 ]
- a sanctuary  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a sanctuary, Chāndogya-upaniṣad (Title); Rāmāyaṇa (Title); Manu-smṛti (Title); Pañcatantra (Title) &c. [ ID=25733 ]
- An altar.  
  *Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary*
  > आयतन (āyatana) [Printed book page 094-b ] आयतन (āyatana) ( नं ) ((naṃ)) 1. n. An altar. [ ID=5036 ]

### Barn or Storage Structure (1 definition)
- a barn  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a barn, Yājñavalkya (Author) ii, 154 [ ID=25735 ]

### Buddhist Concept: Sense Faculties (1 definition)
- the five senses and Manas, along with their perceived qualities  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > (with Buddhists) the five senses and Manas (considered as the inner seats or Āyatanas) and the qualities perceived by the above (the outer Āyatanas). [ ID=25737 ]

### Medical: Cause of Disease (1 definition)
- the cause of a disease  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > the cause of a disease, Suśruta (Title) [ ID=25736 ]

### Site or Ground Plot for Building (1 definition)
- a plot of ground or the site of a house  
  *Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)*
  > a plot of ground, the site of a house [ ID=25734 ]

## Sources

Definitions from Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Lanman's Sanskrit Reader Vocabulary; Macdonell Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872); Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899); Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary; The Vedic Index of Names and Subjects; Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary; Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, University of Cologne.

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