Who is Radha?

Who is Radha? What is she like? And how would we be if we absorbed her essence?

Sadhvi Bhagawatiji explains that Radha means the presence of so much love that the “I” disappears. The lover and beloved become one in such a way that there is only love remaining. It is the ultimate dissolution of “I-ness”, and the ego is gone. When we use the word love, we say, “I love you”; but in this statement there is still a separation, there is still an “I”, and there is still a “you”. Radha only loves. She loves Krishna in such a selfless way that they merge; there is no longer an “I” and a “you”. Love is all she knows – without conditions or ifs and buts.
Sadhviji shares the story of Radha. “Once Krishna fell sick and only the dust of a devotee’s feet could cure him. All his devotees, including all the Gopis refused such a deplorable act as it would be a sin to put their dust on Krishna’s head. None of them wanted to accumulate bad karma. So when everyone else refused, the doctor went to Radha. She readily agreed to help, saying she would do ‘whatever my Krishna needs’. When asked about the bad karma, she simply said, ‘I could burn in hell if that is what it takes to make my Krishna well’. Therefore, the names of Radha and Krishna have been inseparable; and in Vrindavan, it is said that only by chanting the name of Radha will you be able to call Krishna.”