The farmer 'people' were the result of eliminating first the priestly, and then the fighting factors from the whole body politic.

But these castes were all Aryans, and as such distinguished 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.