The fourth
collection, the Atharva-Veda, probably attained its present form
considerably later than the @Rg-Veda. In spirit, however, as Professor
Macdonell says, "It is not only entirely different from the _Rigveda_
but represents a much more primitive stage of thought. While the
_Rigveda_ deals almost exclusively with the higher gods as conceived by a

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[Footnote 1: Pa@nini, III. iii. 94.]

13

comparatively advanced and refined sacerdotal class, the _Atharva-Veda_
is, in the main a book of spells and incantations appealing to the demon
world, and teems with notions about witchcraft current among the lower
grades of the population, and derived from an immemorial antiquity. These
two, thus complementary to each other in contents are obviously the most
important of the four Vedas [Footnote ref 1]."

The Brahma@nas. [Footnote ref 2]

After the Sa@mhitas there grew up the theological treatises called the
Brahma@nas, which were of a distinctly different literary type. They
are written in prose, and explain the sacred significance of the
different rituals to those who are not already familiar with them.
"They reflect," says Professor Macdonell, "the spirit of an age in
which all intellectual activity is concentrated on the sacrifice,
describing its ceremonies, discussing its value, speculating on its
origin and significance." These works are full of dogmatic assertions,
fanciful symbolism and speculations of an unbounded imagination in the
field of sacrificial details. The sacrificial ceremonials were probably
never so elaborate at the time when the early hymns were composed.
But when the collections of hymns were being handed down from generation
to generation the ceremonials became more and more complicated. Thus
there came about the necessity of the distribution of the different
sacrificial functions among several distinct classes of priests. We may
assume that this was a period when the caste system was becoming
established, and when the only thing which could engage wise and religious
minds was sacrifice and its elaborate rituals. Free speculative thinking
was thus subordinated to the service of the sacrifice, and the result
was the production of the most fanciful sacramental and symbolic

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[Footnote 1: A.A. Macdonell's _History of Sanskrit Literature_, p. 31.]

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