I've posted before that I think Hinduism can claim to be the true
descendant of the PIE religion. Only the Parsees of India
(Zoroastrianism) can make a similar claim. Everywhere else, it's a
borrowed religion (Christianity mainly, but also Islam).
From what I understand, one can describe Hinduism as a 'bottom-up'
relgion, where whatever the folk believe is more or less 'orthodoxy',
vs what you get with Christianity and Islam (and even Buddhism), and
what we in the West see as mutual contradictions are just part of the
system.
What prompts this post is an article in the Telegraph about the royal
mess in Nepal, linked here. Also check out the Nepalese links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=001831922500268&rtmo=lzFPwoHt&atmo
=ttttttyd&pg=/et/01/6/12/wnep12.html
Isn't there something in Celtic mythology about 'eaters of the dead',
the office of the 'sin-eater'? I remember seeing a PBS play on this
many years ago.