Bhashya
संख्या सम्यक्तया ज्ञाता ; पुनस्तेषामेव देवांनां संकोचविषयां संख्यां पृच्छति— कत्येव देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ; त्रयस्त्रिंशत्, षट्, त्रयः, द्वौ, अध्यर्धः, एकः— इति ।देवतासंकोचविकासविषयां संख्यां पृष्ट्वा पुनः संख्येयस्वरूपं पृच्छति— कतमे ते त्रयश्च त्री च शता त्रयश्च त्री च सहस्रेति ॥
In plain words
So the number has been settled correctly. Now he presses further, asking how that same set of gods can be narrowed down: ‘But really, Yājñavalkya, how many gods?’ — and the answers come folding inward, thirty-three, six, three, two, one-and-a-half, one. Having drawn the number down that far, he turns the question around and asks what those thousands actually are: ‘Who exactly are those three thousand and three, three hundred and three?’
Close to the Sanskrit
The number has been correctly ascertained. Again he asks the number pertaining to the contraction of those very gods: 'Just how many gods, Yājñavalkya?' — 'Thirty-three, six, three, two, one-and-a-half, one' — thus. Having asked the number pertaining to the contraction and expansion of the deities, again he asks the true identity of what is counted: 'Which are those three hundred and three, and three thousand and three?'