Lord Ganesha is said to have married the daughters of Brahma. He is not portrayed or generally seen with his consorts unlike most other gods. If we are to think logically, almost all the gods in the Hindu mythology have consorts and are worshipped with their consorts. Therefore Ganesha also must have wives. The wives were twins of Brahma, Riddhi and SIddhi. The names mean knowledge and success. When the blessings of Lord Ganesha are invoked the obstacles in our paths are removed and we are blessed with wisdom and success.
Siddhi is success. Siddhi also refers to the special abilities the Lord possesses. So it can be said that he is married to Siddhi. The name of the Lord in Siddhatek is named Siddhivinayaka as in so many other places. The Siddhivinayaka temple in Mumbai is also famous. The Vedas talk of eight siddhis – astha siddhis. Raja Ravi Varma, the princely artist of the 19th Century has drawn a picture of Lord with the eight women around him signifying the ashta siddhis. This marriage of Lord Ganesha has only a symbolic importance. It is because of this that he is also known as a bachelor as Riddhi and Siddhi are symbolised as knowledge and success.
It is also believed that Ganesha had two sons Kshema and Labha from his marriage to Riddhi and Siddhi. Kshema means prosperity and Labha means profit. Now isn’t this a natural outcome of having Riddhi and Siddhi? When one is intelligent and possesses the entire abilities, one will surely have prosperity and profits. Another symbolism is that Riddhi stands for knowledge of the Self and Siddhi stands for all worldly possessions. So it is believed that Ganesha was a master in Self knowledge and an expert with the worldly knowledge as well. So let us worship Lord Ganesha to remove the obstacles in our path to self knowledge after being satiated with all the materialistic pleasures.
