Shukra’s Curse on King Danda and Andhaka’s Challenge to Shiva
तृप्ताः समाद्रवन् सर्वे देवायतनमुत्तमम् तुरङ्गखुरनिर्घोषं श्रुत्वा ता योषितां वराः
tṛptāḥ samādravan sarve devāyatanamuttamam turaṅgakhuranirghoṣaṃ śrutvā tā yoṣitāṃ varāḥ
満ち足りると、彼らは皆、最勝の神殿へと走り向かった。馬の蹄の轟く響きを聞いて、そこにいた女たちのうち最も優れた者らはその方へ注意を向けた。
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Devāyatana denotes a consecrated locus—temple, shrine, or deity-abode—often functioning as the narrative focal point of a tirtha. Even when unnamed in a verse, it typically anchors the subsequent description of the site’s deity, rites, and merits.
It is a conventional arrival-marker: the audible sign of a party approaching a sacred precinct. In māhātmya narratives, such sensory cues transition the scene from travel through landscape to encounter with the shrine and its attendants or residents.
Within temple-arrival scenes, this phrase commonly refers to women associated with the precinct—local residents, devotees, or attendants—whose attention is drawn to the newcomers, setting up hospitality, inquiry, or the next narrative exchange.