स होवाच महिमान एवैषामेते ।त्रयस्त्रिंशत्त्वेव देवा इति ।कतमे ते त्रयस्त्रिंशदिति ।अष्टौ वसव एकादश रुद्रा द्वादशादित्याः त एकत्रिंशदैन्द्रश्चैव प्रजापतिश्च त्रयस्त्रिंशाविति ॥३,९.२ ॥
In plain words
He said, "Those are only their manifestations; there are just thirty-three gods." "Which are those thirty-three?" "The eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras and the twelve Ādityas make thirty-one; and Indra and Prajāpati make the thirty-two and the thirty-three."
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· bhāṣya
स होवाच इतरः—महिमानः विभूतयः, एषां त्रयस्त्रि- शतः देवानाम्, एते त्रयश्च त्री च शतेत्यादयः ; परमार्थ- तस्तु त्रयस्त्रिंशच्चैव देवा इति । कतमे ते त्रयस्त्रिंशदित्यु- च्यते— अष्टौ वसवः, एकादश रुद्राः, द्वादश आदित्याः— ते एकत्रिंशत्—इन्द्रश्चैव प्रजापतिश्च त्रयस्त्रिंशाविति त्रयस्त्रि- शतः पूरणौ ॥
In plain words
Yājñavalkya explained: those glories are simply the manifested powers of the thirty-three real gods — the huge numbers, three hundred and three, three thousand and three, are only that, glory heaped on glory. In truth there are just thirty-three gods. And which thirty-three? Eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Ādityas — thirty-one already — and then Indra and Prajāpati, the two who round the number out to thirty-three.
Close to the Sanskrit
He, the other [speaker], said: 'glories' means the manifested powers of these thirty-three gods; these [numbers] beginning with 'three and three hundred' [are only their glories]; but in reality the gods are only thirty-three. 'Which are those thirty-three?' — it is said: eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Ādityas — these are thirty-one — and Indra and Prajāpati are the two that complete the thirty-three.