Bhashya
एवं नित्यानुष्ठाने आनुषङ्गिकं सर्वं फलमभिधाय, अथे-दानीं तद्विद्यानुष्ठातुर्जप्तुः अध्येतुश्च उत्कर्षतरतमभावेन स-र्वोत्कृष्टतां सर्वोत्कृष्टं च फलमाह— अनुपनीतशतमेकमे-केनोपनीतेन तत्समम् ।उपनीतशतम् उपकुर्वाणानां ननैष्ठिकाभिप्रायेण तस्य सर्वोत्कृष्टत्वात् ।एकमेकेन गृहस्थेनतत्समं गृहस्थशतम् एकम् एकेन वानप्रस्थेन तत्समं वानप्र-स्थशतम् एकम् एकेन यतिना तत्समं सोऽयमाश्रमस्वीकार-मात्रे तरतमभावः नाश्रमप्रयुक्तानुष्ठानाभिप्रायेण ; ततश्च यती-नां च शतं पूर्णं स्वीकृताश्रममात्राणां यस्मिन्कस्मिंश्चित्स्थित-रुद्रजाप्येन तत्समं रुद्रजाप्यशतमेकं यस्मिन्कस्मिंश्चिदाश्रमेस्थिताथर्वशिरःशिखाध्यायकेन जापकेन तत्सममथर्वशिरःशि-खाध्यायकशतं मन्त्रराजजापकेन तत्समम् इत्युत्कर्षतरतम-भावस्य मन्त्रराजजापके एतद्विद्यावति विश्रान्तत्वात् एत-द्विद्यावान्सर्वोत्कृष्ट इति गम्यते ।यथा आनन्दतरतमभावस्यब्रह्मणि विश्रान्तत्वात् ब्रह्मानन्द एव सर्वोत्कृष्टः ।यस्मा-देवं तस्मात् वै प्रसिद्धम् एतत्परमं धाम स्थानम् एतद्वि-द्यागर्भितमन्त्रराजाध्यायकस्य जापकस्य अनुष्ठातुर्वा ।यत्रक्षीरोदार्णवस्थाने सूर्यो न तपति यत्र वायुर्न वाति यत्र नचन्द्रमास्तपति यत्र न नक्षत्राणि भान्ति यत्र नाग्निर्दहति
In plain words
Having covered, in the daily rite, every incidental benefit that comes along with it, Śaṅkara now turns to the real question: whose practice ranks highest, and what does that highest practice earn? He takes up the verse's own scale. A hundred who have not yet received initiation are worth one who has -- and by 'a hundred initiated' he means the students who will later marry, not the lifelong celibates, because that class is already at the top and needs no such comparison. A hundred householders are worth one forest-dweller; a hundred forest-dwellers are worth one wandering renunciant. But notice, he says, this scale only tracks which stage of life someone has stepped into -- not how faithfully they keep its particular duties. And then: a full hundred renunciants, of any kind at all, are worth one person, in any stage of life, who recites Rudra's mantra. A hundred of those are worth one who reads the Atharvaśiras and its crest-chapter. And a hundred of those readers are worth one who recites the Mantrarāja, the king of mantras. So the whole ladder comes to rest exactly where the teaching itself lives -- in the person who holds it. That is why the one who holds this teaching stands above everyone else, the same way Brahman's bliss alone stands above every lesser degree of joy, because every degree of joy finally rests in Brahman. And so it is firmly settled: this supreme abode belongs to the one who reads, recites, and lives this teaching about the Mantrarāja. There, in the Ocean of Milk, the sun does not burn, no wind stirs, the moon gives no light, no star shines, fire does not consume...
Close to the Sanskrit
Having thus stated, with respect to the daily observance, all the incidental fruit, now he states, by way of a graduated scale of superiority, the state of being the most excellent of all and the most excellent fruit itself, belonging to the practitioner, reciter, and reader of that teaching: 'A hundred not-yet-initiated equal one who is initiated.' 'A hundred initiated' means of the temporary celibate students, not with reference to the lifelong celibate students, because that class is already the most excellent of all. 'One equals one householder' -- a hundred householders; 'one equals one forest-dweller' -- a hundred forest-dwellers; 'one equals one renunciant' -- this graduated state holds only with respect to the mere adoption of the life-stage, not with reference to the observance enjoined for that life-stage. And then: 'a full hundred renunciants,' meaning those who have merely adopted the stage, whoever it may be, 'equal one' who, settled in whatever stage, performs Rudra-japa; 'a hundred Rudra-japa performers equal one' who, settled in whatever stage, is a reader -- that is, a reciter -- of the Atharvaśiras-śikhā; 'a hundred readers of the Atharvaśiras-śikhā equal one reciter of the Mantrarāja' -- from this it is understood that the graduated state of superiority comes to rest in the reciter of the Mantrarāja, because it comes to rest in one who possesses this very teaching, and therefore one who possesses this teaching is the most excellent of all -- just as, because the graduated state of bliss comes to rest in Brahman, the bliss of Brahman alone is the most excellent of all. Since this is so, therefore it is indeed well established: 'this is that supreme abode,' the place, belonging to the reader -- the reciter, the practitioner -- of the Mantrarāja who is inwardly possessed of this teaching. Where, in the abode of the Ocean of Milk, the sun does not scorch, where the wind does not blow, where the moon does not shine, where the stars do not gleam, where fire does not burn...