Meaning of AN 1.439-446

[mikenz66]

It is in cases like this that the footnotes are helpful! Bhikkhu Bodhi refers to the commentaries and the Visuddhimagga in his notes 1771–75, and this post may be helpful:

'āyatana' in context

Like some other terms essential for the understanding of the EBT āyatana has not received its due attention, often translated as the inaccessible ‘base’ I would like to highlight in which conceptual contexts it appears. āyatana in Vedic/Sanskrit sources Monier-Williams translates āyatana as a resting-place, support, seat, place, home, house, abode, a sanctuary, a barn Jan Gonda provides an exhaustive source collection of āyatana in Indian sources (Gonda (1975): Selected Studies, Volume II…