The Agnihotra is a twice-daily Vedic Yagna that is required to be performed by all Dvijas. (It's not as commonly practiced nowadays, because it can be substituted with Naivedyam, which constitutes a Pranagnihotra; see Yamunacharya's Agama Pramanya for more details.) In any case, this chapter of the Shatapatha Brahmana of the Yajur Veda lists a bunch of reasons for why one should or should not approach the fires of the Agnihotra, before ultimately concluding that one should. Here's one such reason:
atʰa yásmānnòpatíṣṭʰeta |
ubʰáye ha vā́ idamágre sahā̀surdevā́śca manuṣyā̀śca tadyáddʰa sma manuṣyā̀ṇāṃ na bʰávati táddʰa sma devā́nyācanta idaṃ vaí no nā̀stīdáṃ no 'stvíti te tásyā evá yāñcyā́yai dvéṣeṇa devā́stiróbʰūtā néddʰinásāni neddveṣyó 'sānī́ti tásmānnópatiṣṭʰeta ||Then as to why he should not approach them. Now in the beginning both the gods and men were together here. And whatever did not belong to the men, for that they importuned the gods, saying, 'This is not ours: let it be ours!' Being indignant at this importunity, the gods then disappeared. Hence (it may be argued) one should not approach (the fires), fearing lest he should offend them, lest he should become hateful to them.
My question is, what is the story of the gods disappearing from the Earth because humans asked them for too many things? When (e.g. in what Yuga) did this take place?
I suppose this could explain why there are lots of references in Hindu scriptures to the gods residing on Earth, and also why the gods are said for reside in Lokas other than Devaloka. For instance, this question this describes how Amaravati is a city of the gods at the foot of Mount Meru in Bhuloka, and yet Amaravati is also the capital of Devaloka. It's possible that the gods used to live in the Bhuloka Amaravati, and then left and went to Devaloka due to being offended by human beings. Also, Hindu scripture frequently says that the land of the Uttarakurus on the Northern side of the Himalayas is a land inhabited by gods, so perhaps that is where the gods lived before leaving the Earth.
Does anyone know any other scriptures that describe this story?