It gets annoying when you spam a bunch of messages together. Do it one post like I do
I wanted to think about this because you are right that people in other texts are being praised while having dark skinned. But many texts also praise people who their light skin, and they make dark skin made out to be inferior. So I was wondering what to make of it, and came to some possibilities:
1) Maybe dark skin is seen as inferior only in some texts because it was a beauty standard in some geographies.
This might be true in that there seems to be some evidence that dark skin was valued by people like the Tamils according to European travellers.
2) Maybe they are attractive DESPITE their skin colour. Like in the Buddhist example the king like his dark skinned queen because she was still very attractive despite it. I would have to dig through the texts to find if the draupadi story is true.
But the caste thing seems to even be backed up by genetic evidence. Varna literally means colour, and the Brahmins were considered the white caste (while shudras the black caste).
3) Maybe it was a gendered thing, where the skin colour mattered more for the female rather than male. (Though the brahmins in the Buddhist texts wouldn’t be bragging about it then).
Here’s the brahmins bragging about being fair skinned.
Good Kaccāna, brahmans speak thus: ‘Only brahmans form the best caste, all other castes are low; only brahmans form the fair caste, all other casts are dark; only brahmans are pure, not non-brahmans; brahmans are own sons of Brahmā, born of his mouth, born of Brahmā, formed by Brahmā, heirs to Brahmā.’ What does the good Kaccāna say to this?”
Early Buddhist texts from the Tipitaka (Tripitaka). Suttas (sutras) with the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness, insight, wisdom, and meditation.
suttacentral.net
In this text a king was able to identify the Buddha’s caste based on his complexion (skin colour) and height.
"You are young, youthful,in the first stage of youth,endowed with the stature & coloring of a noble-warrior.”
www.accesstoinsight.org
So based on think I think the white beauty standard could probably is a result of the caste system more than anything, as the higher castes were whiter.
With all this evidence of the Aryans being lighter skinned, I think we can accept this actual translation of this passage from the Vedas as referring to their physical appearance as well.
The colonial-era interpretation of sacred Vedic hymns by European authors gave rise to the early form of Aryan invasion theory
www.indica.today
Look through this article for many references. They try to debunk these claims, but it’s quite obvious they fail. They make the claim darkness has more to do with the mind because they don’t hold the vedic rites, but the more obvious meaning is that the dark skinned non-aryans didn’t follow the vedic religion. And they think they were punished with dark skin because of it (rather than it being a result of climatic evolution or a more natural explanation).
Here are some verses if you are too lazy to check them.
Indra in battles help his Aryan worshipper, he who hath hundred helps at hand in every fray, in frays that win the light of heaven. Plaguing the lawless he gave up to Manu’s seed the dusky skin; Blazing, ’twere, he burns each covetous man away, he burns, the tyrannous away.
~Rig Veda 1.130.8 translated by Griffit
For fear of thee forth fled the dark-hued races, scattered abroad, deserting their possessions, When, glowing, O Vaiśvānara, for Pūru, thou Agni didst light up and rend their castles.
~ Rig Veda 7.5.3 translated by Griffith
O’er Sire and Mother they have roared in unison bright with the verse of praise, burning up riteless men, Blowing away with supernatural might from earth and from the heavens the swarthy skin which Indra hates.
~ Rig Veda 9.73.5 translated by Griffith
He claims that the Vedic deities are fair skinned because they are associated with light, but as you know later deities come in all sorts of colours because the population they appealed to were more diverse in skin colours.
“It is also true that the Vedic Gods are described as being light in color. But many Gods like Surya, Savitr, Agni etc symbolizes solar and fire Gods. Hence it’s natural that they are described as in light form. Even Indra, the Vedic God of war who helps the Aryan worshiper fight off the Dāsa-Dásyus is described as having bright hue akin to the Sun in Rig Veda”
And if we look at the descriptions of Indra, if you want to take this literally he was blonde haired golden tanned man.
5 Thou, thou, when praised by men who sacrificed of old. hadst pleasure in their lauds, O Indra golden-haired.
All that befits thy song of praise thou welcornest, the perfect pleasant gift, O Golden-hued from birth.
Rig Veda, tr. by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1896], full text etext at sacred-texts.com
sacred-texts.com
This seems similar to the Greeks or Romans (don’t remember which) that thought their gods were golden skinned and blonde haired. But I wouldn’t look too deeply into this because it could just mean the gods are all glowing golden like spirits or something and not necessarily human-like.