(शाकल्यब्राह्मणग्रन्थो वा शाकल्यब्राह्मणम्) अथ हैनं विदग्धः शाकल्यः पप्रच्छ कति देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ।स हैतयैव निविदा प्रतिपेदे यावन्तो वैश्वदेवस्य निविद्युच्यन्ते ।त्रयश्च त्री च शता त्रयश्च त्री च सहस्रेति ।ओमिति होवाच ।कत्येव देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ।त्रयस्त्रिंशदिति ।ओमिति होवाच ।कत्येव देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ।षडिति ।ओमिति होवाच ।कत्येव देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ।त्रय इति ।ओमिति होवाच ।कत्येव देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ।द्वाविति ।ओमिति होवाच ।कत्येव देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ।अध्यर्ध इति ।ओमिति होवाच ।कत्येव देवा याज्ञवल्क्येति ।एक इति ।ओमिति होवाच ।कतमे ते त्रयश्च त्री च शता त्रयश्च त्री च सहस्रेति ॥बृह. ३,९.१ ॥
In plain words
Then Vidagdha Śākalya asked him, "How many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?" He answered with this invocation, according to the number named in the invocation of the All-gods: "Three hundred and three, and three thousand and three." "Om," he said, "but how many gods are there really, Yājñavalkya?" "Thirty-three." "Om," he said, "but how many gods are there really, Yājñavalkya?" "Six." "Om," he said, "but how many gods are there really, Yājñavalkya?" "Three." "Om," he said, "but how many gods are there really, Yājñavalkya?" "Two." "Om," he said, "but how many gods are there really, Yājñavalkya?" "One and a half." "Om," he said, "but how many gods are there really, Yājñavalkya?" "One." "Om," he said, "and which are those three hundred and three and three thousand and three?"
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 9.122· avatāraṇikā
अथ हैन विदग्धः शाकल्यः पप्रच्छ । पृथिव्यादीनां सूक्ष्मतारतम्यक्रमेण पूर्वस्य पूर्वस्य उत्तरस्मिन्नुत्तरस्मिन् ओ-तप्रोतभावं कथयन् सर्वान्तरं ब्रह्म प्रकाशितवान् ; तस्य च ब्रह्मणो व्याकृतविषये सूत्रभेदेषु नियन्तृत्वमुक्तम्— व्याकृ-तविषये व्यक्ततरं लिङ्गमिति । तस्यैव ब्रह्मणः साक्षादपरो-क्षत्वे नियन्तव्यदेवताभेदसंकोचविकासद्वारेणाधिगन्तव्ये इति तदर्थं शाकल्यब्राह्मणमारभ्यते—
In plain words
Then clever Śākalya put his question to Yājñavalkya. Tracing the elements from coarse to fine, one woven through the next like warp through weft, Yājñavalkya had already shown Brahman as the innermost reality of everything. And of that same Brahman, in its manifest form, the earlier sections had already shown it as the controller — the sign is clearer, they said, wherever things are differentiated. Now, so that this same Brahman can be grasped directly and immediately, through the narrowing and widening of the deities that stand under its control, the Śākalya section begins.
Close to the Sanskrit
Then indeed clever Śākalya asked him. By the sequence of the subtlety and grossness of earth and the rest, describing the state of each preceding thing being interwoven, warp and woof, in each following thing, he has illumined Brahman that is the inmost of all. And of that Brahman, in the domain of the manifest, in the divisions of the earlier discussion, its being the controller has been stated: 'in the domain of the manifest the sign is clearer' — thus. In order that that very Brahman be attained directly and immediately, through the contraction and expansion of the divisions among the deities that are to be controlled, for that purpose the Śākalya-brāhmaṇa is begun.
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 9.124· bhāṣya
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?'