 According to Day (1982), the concept of "Dharma", ...became so useful for framing religious, moral and social regulations, that interest in it and discussion of its applications to social and moral order eclipsed all discussions of metaphysical and theological ideas.Since, moreover, "Dharma" was made the central subject of a literary tradition which was to become vast and extensive throughout India, while the conception of "Ṛta" remained largely confined to the Vedas and their commentaries, it naturally took possession of brāhmaṇical thinking even at the expense of older, exalted concepts and conceptions.As the notion of "Dharma" shifted emphasis away from the gods as executors of "Ṛta" and towards the individual as upholding "Ṛta" through his actions, the ethical responsibility and culpability of the individual received an increasing amount of emphasis towards the end of the Vedic period.