Dear Jim,
I think sita.m means 'pure'. Its commoner meaning is 'white' and its
opposite asita means 'black'. The word idha in this stz means 'here',
i.e., "in this world".
Yes, the stz obviously connects with the next through the word ta.m.
The construction is "yena buddhena desita.m dhamma.m ... ta.m
namitvaa" :having worshipped the Dhamma proclaimed by that Buddha who
is... etc.

As you will see this couple of verses also form part of a string of 6
stzz, the gist of which is "Having worshipped the Buddha, Dhamma and
Sangha I will proclaim the Saddaniiti or the Science of Words."

Mahinda

On 12/24/08, Jim Anderson <jimanderson.on@...> wrote:
> Dear Nina,
>
>> N: PLease, would you give these verses, I do not remember them. Did
>> you formerly give them?
>
> I posted the first two verses earlier to my own list. I reproduce them here
> from part of that message along with my question:
>
> << I have a question about the first verse at the beginning of the
> Padamaalaa:
>
> dhiirehi magganaayena, yena buddhena desita.m.
> sita.m dhammamidha~n~naaya, ~naayate amata.m pada.m..
>
> What is the meaning of "sita.m" in this verse? I think "dhiirehi" (instr.
> pl.) is the agent of the passive verb "~naayate" (is known by the
> wise) and "amata.m pada.m" (in the nom. case) is the object. "magganaayena,
> yena buddhena desita.m. sita.m dhammamidha~n~naaya," is a subordinate clause
> with dhiirehi also serving as the agent of the absolutive "a~n~naaya" (after
> having understood) with "dhamma" as the object (in the acc.). I take
> magganaayena as equivalent to magganaayakena (path-leader/guide), I also
> wonder if the "yena" is a correlative of "ta.m" at the beginning of the next
> verse:
>
> ta.m namitvaa mahaaviira.m, sabba~n~nu.m lokanaayaka.m.
> mahaakaaru.nika.m se.t.tha.m, visuddha.m suddhidaayaka.m..>>
>
> I didn't want to jump ahead in the discussions by posting it to this group.
> The second verse is much easier to follow:
>
> Having bowed to Him, the Great Hero, the Omniscient One, the World Leader,
> The Great Compassionate One, the Best One, the Pure One, the Grantor of
> Purity;
>
> Jim
>
>