। ॥ २३ ॥
In plain words
I'm worshipping you — so give me some happiness right now, Lord. But you, of course, hand out Brahmā's office and Viṣṇu's office as the payment. And then, just to get one look at you, I'd be hauling a swan's wings through the sky and a boar's body through the earth — and come back without having seen you. How would I bear that misery, Śaṅkara? Lord, how?
Close to the Sanskrit
I perform your worship; be at once a giver of happiness to me, O all-pervading one. You do indeed bestow Brahmā-hood and Viṣṇu-hood as the fruit of that worship — so it goes. And then again, in order to see you, bearing bird-shape and beast-shape in the sky and on the earth, and not having seen you, how here am I to endure that grief, O Śaṅkara, O Lord?