catusu ṭhānesu

It refers to Sāriputta Thera paying homage to the Buddha for the last time. The ṭīkā does not comment on this passage. There are a few parallels, for instance Ja VI 84 udakena siñcitvā tikkhattuṃ padakkhiṇaṃ katvā catusu ṭhānesu vanditvā which in Cowell's translation is rendered: "and made his obeisance at the four several points" (could any English native speaker clarify me this usage of 'several'?). I was also translating catusu ṭhānesu as the four directions, because that is what the context seems to require (well, sort of...). However, the locative makes me doubt. vandati requires an accusative of object. Interestingly over 90% of the usages of vanditvā in the canon are with the accusative pāde "the feet". We could assume, perhaps, that the accusative is Bhagavantaṃ (bhagavantaṃ catusu ṭhānesu vanditvā), what would that mean? Theoretically it cannot refer to the four places in the career of a Buddha, because at that time the Buddha is still alive. I would like to know what you think of it and if you also see a problem, or there is no problem at all and the locative with vandati is perfectly normal in certain contexts. In that case, I would like to know exactly why Sāriputta bows down to the four directions. In the Jataka example that I have cited, the king pays obeisance to the four corners thinking that he has killed Sama, so it seems to be part of a death ritual. Do you think that could have any connection with our Pali passage?

Thank you very much in advance.