Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 39
ब्रह्मणस्तु यथा देवाः कीटस्थाने व्यवस्थिताः । तथा ब्रह्मापि विष्णोश्च कीटस्थाने व्यवस्थितः
brahmaṇastu yathā devāḥ kīṭasthāne vyavasthitāḥ | tathā brahmāpi viṣṇośca kīṭasthāne vyavasthitaḥ
Wie die Götter im Verhältnis zu Brahmā im Stand eines bloßen Insekts stehen, so steht auch Brahmā selbst im Verhältnis zu Viṣṇu in eben diesem Insektsstand.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) (deduced from Purāṇic dialogue style in Tīrthamāhātmya sections)
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvijottama (implied continuing addressee)
Scene: A vertical cosmogram: devas clustered below, Brahmā on lotus above them, and beyond Brahmā a vast Viṣṇu presence—each lower tier rendered smaller to show ‘insect-like’ relativity.
FAQs
It teaches humility through a cosmic comparison, pointing beyond relative status toward the pursuit of higher realization (jñāna).
This verse is within a Tīrthamāhātmya context of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, but the specific tīrtha name is not stated in this single shloka excerpt.
No direct ritual (snāna, dāna, japa) is prescribed in this verse; it is doctrinal/comparative teaching.