most sharply, from a religious point of view, from the "fourth caste";
whereas among themselves they were, in religion, equals. But they were
practically divided by interests that strongly affected the
development of their original litanies. For both priest and warrior
looked down on the 'people,' but priest and warrior feared and
respected each other. To these the third estate was necessary as a
base of supplies, and together they guarded it from foes divine and
mortal. But to each other they were necessary for wealth and glory,
respectively. So it was that even in the earliest period the religious
litany, to a great extent, is the book of worship of a warrior-class
as prepared for it by the priest. Priest and king--these are the main
factors in the making of the hymns of the Rig Veda, and the gods
lauded are chiefly the gods patronized by these classes. The third
estate had its favorite gods, but these were little regarded, and were
in a state of decadence. The slaves, too, may have had their own gods,
but of these nothing is known, and one can only surmise that here and
there in certain traits, which seem to be un-Aryan, may lie an
unacknowledged loan from the aborigines.

Between the Rig Veda and the formation or completion of the next Veda,
called the Atharvan, the interval appears to have been considerable,
and the inherent value of the religion inculcated in the latter can be
estimated aright only when this is weighed together with the fact,
that, as is learned from the Atharvan's own statements, the Aryans
were now advanced further southwards and eastwards, had discovered a
new land, made new gods, and were now more permanently established,
the last a factor of some moment in the religious development.
Indications of the difference in time may be seen in the geographical
and physical limitations of the older period as compared with those of
the later Atharvan. When first the Aryans are found in India, at the