Mil 3.7.12
PTS cs 12 The king said: ‘There is the expression ocean, Nāgasena. Why is the water called ocean?’
The Elder replied PTS vp Pali 86 : ‘Because there is just as much salt as water, O king, and just as much water as salt, therefore is it called ocean.’
‘Very good, Nāgasena!’
Translation by T.W. Rhys Davids · SuttaCentral · Public domain
The source expressly identifies this translation as public domain.
The Questions of King Milinda, translated from the Pali by .
Part 1 (to section 5.4.10) was originally published as Volume xxxv of “The Sacred Books of the East”, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1890.
Part 2 (from section 5.5.1) was originally published as Volume xxxvi of “The Sacred Books of the East”, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1894.
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