Lord Ganesh with Siddhi

  Lord Ganesh with Siddhi

Pratihara Dynasty, 9th Century AD, Bhopal Museum

          Goddess Parvati was worried as to who would marry her elephant headed son, Ganesh? She went to Lord Brahma.  He said he would give two of his daughters, Riddhi and Siddhi,  in marriage to Ganesh. That is how Lord Ganesh has two wives.

          While Riddhi stands for spiritual wisdom,  Siddhi stands for intellectual wisdom. Since Lord Ganesh is the God of wosdom, He has to have the two sides of wisdom with Him. While Riddhi sits on Ganesh 's right, Siddhi sits on his left. Here we see Lord Ganesh with Siddhi. She sits on Lord Ganesh 's thigh ( a usual convention to show the God and his Shakti together). Siddhi holds a mirror. One has to reflect on things, on different subjects before one becomes wise. 

          Wisdom is cherished in Hinduism as Hinduism speaks of introspection and assimilation. Since wisdom can solve every problem, Lord Ganesh is the remover of obstacles.  Hence, in every function, religious or secular, He is worshipped as the first god. When we pray to Him, we merely invoke our inner wisdom. 

           His very form, half - man,  half - animal,  points to wisdom ' s ability to assimilate diversity of Nature.  Since every particle in the universe is created by divine power, every particle contains the divine light. To discriminate between objects or people, to be exclusivist, is to deny the oneness of Nature. Such senseless discrimination is not only irrational, but is a crime against the divine power. It is unwise.