Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 38
देवानां च यथा मर्त्याः कीटस्थाने च संस्थिताः । तथा देवा अपि ज्ञेया ब्रह्मणोऽव्यक्तजन्मनः
devānāṃ ca yathā martyāḥ kīṭasthāne ca saṃsthitāḥ | tathā devā api jñeyā brahmaṇo'vyaktajanmanaḥ
ദേവന്മാരോടു താരതമ്യത്തിൽ മർത്ത്യർ കീടസ്ഥാനത്തിൽ നിൽക്കുന്നതുപോലെ, അവ്യക്തജന്മനായ ബ്രഹ്മനോടു താരതമ്യത്തിൽ ദേവന്മാരും കീടവത് എന്നു അറിയേണ്ടതാണ്।
Sūta
Type: kshetra
Listener: dvijottama (addressed)
Scene: A contemplative sage instructs a learned brāhmaṇa at a sacred ford; above them, layered cosmic tiers show mortals, devas, and a vast formless radiance signifying the unmanifest Brahman.
FAQs
Humility deepens: as humans are small before gods, so gods are small before the unmanifest Brahman—pointing the seeker to the supreme reality.
No specific tīrtha is named in this verse; it provides theological framing commonly embedded in Māhātmya literature.
None; it is a metaphysical instruction about relative status and the supremacy of Brahman.