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
De même que les dieux, par rapport à Brahmā, sont établis dans la condition d’un simple insecte, de même Brahmā lui-même, par rapport à Viṣṇu, est établi dans cette même condition.
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.