The brahmins, who had been passing on their wisdom orally in mantras and sutras (instructions for rituals), now wrote them down in texts, which gradually became more elaborate and more esoteric. These coalesced into the four primary Vedas, along with the Brahmanas, commentaries on sacrificial rituals, and the Upanishads, more esoteric philosophical treatises. Concerned with ritual correctness more than rules for behaviour in ordinary life, let alone matters of politics and administration, the brahmins nevertheless offered a sense of ritual order to ordinary people.
