Ganesha

 

Ganesha (Gaņeśa)
Ganesha
Ganesha
God of Obstacles

 

 

 

Buddhi, Siddhi, and Riddhi

Shri Mayureshwar, Morgaon
Shri Mayureshwar, Morgaon

In the Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana, there are descriptions of Ganesha flanked by Buddhi and Siddhi. In Chapter I.18.24-39 of the Ganesha Purana, Brahmā performs worship in honor of Ganesha. During the puja, Ganesha himself causes Buddhi and Siddhi to appear so that Brahmā can offer them back to Ganesha. Ganesha accepts them as offerings. In a variant, the two are born from Brahmā's mind and are given by Brahmā to Ganesha. Buddhi and Siddhi are best identified as his consorts in the Shiva Purana (Śiva Purāṇa), where Ganesha cleverly wins the two desirable daugters of Prajāpati over Skanda. In the Shiva Purana version of the story, Ganesha begets two sons: Kshema (Kşema, prosperity) and Lâbha (profit). In the 1975 Hindi film Jai Santoshi Maa, Ganesha, married to Riddhi and Siddhi, has a daugther named Santoshi Ma — goddess of satisfaction. Santoshi Ma's cult has been cited by Anita Raina Thapan and Larence Cohen as evidence of Ganesha's continuing evolution as a popular deity.

Aside from Puranic texts, evidence of Ganesha's wives can be found elsewhere. In the Ganesha Temple at Morgaon (the central shrine for the regional aṣṭavināyaka complex), Buddhi and Siddhi stand to the right and left sides of the Ganesha image. In northern India, the two female figures are said to be Siddhi and Riddhi; Riddhi substitutes for Buddhi with no Puranic basis. In the Ajitāgama, a Tantric form of Ganesha called Haridra Ganapati is described as turmeric-colored and flanked by two unnamed wives distinct from shaktis. The word "wives" (Sanskrit: दारा; dārā) is specifically used (Sanskrit: दारायुगलम्; dārāyugalam).