[759] "Well then, great king, I shall question you in return on this very point; answer it in whatever way seems fitting to you. What do you think, great king — do you have any accountant, or calculator, or reckoner who is able to count the sand of the Ganges thus: 'There are this many grains of sand,' or … 'There are this many hundreds of thousands of grains of sand'?"
"No indeed, venerable sir."
"But do you have any accountant, or calculator, or reckoner who is able to count the water in the great ocean thus: 'There are this many āḷhakas of water,' or … 'There are this many hundreds of thousands of āḷhakas of water'?"
"No indeed, venerable sir."
"Why is that?"
"Because, venerable sir,¹ the great ocean is deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom."
¹ [Siam Raṭṭha editorial note: in the Burmese (ม.) and European (ยุ.) editions the word "hi" does not appear.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.