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The Nectar of Devotion
affinity and attachment. An example of  sthāyī  was exhibited when Arjuna* told Akrūra: “My dear son of Gāndinī, please ask Kṛṣṇa when I shall be able to embrace Him in my arms.”
When there is full knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s superiority and yet in dealings with Him on friendly terms respectfulness is completely absent, that stage is called affection. There is one brilliant example of this affection. When the demigods, headed by Lord Śiva, were offering respectful prayers to Kṛṣṇa, describing the glorious opulences of the Lord, Arjuna* stood before Him with his hand on His shoulders and brushed the dust from His peacock feather.
When the Pāṇḍavas were banished by Duryodhana and forced to live incognito in the forest, no one could trace out where they were staying. At that time, the great sage Nārada met Lord Kṛṣṇa and said, “My dear Mukunda, although You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the all-powerful person, by making friendship with You the Pāṇḍavas have become bereft of their legitimate right to the kingdom of the world—and, moreover, they are now living in the forest incognito. Sometimes they must work as ordinary laborers in someone else’s house. These symptoms appear to be very inauspicious materially, but the beauty is that the Pāṇḍavas have not lost their faith and love for You, in spite of all these tribulations. In fact, they are always thinking of You and chanting Your name in ecstatic friendship.”
Another example of acute affection for Kṛṣṇa is given in the 10th Canto, 15th Chapter, 15th verse of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . In the pasturing ground Kṛṣṇa felt a little tired and wanted to take rest, so He laid down on the ground. At that time, many cowherd boys assembled there and with great affection began to sing suitable songs so that Kṛṣṇa would rest very nicely.
There is a nice example of the friendship between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. When the fighting was going on, Aśvatthāmā, the son of Droṇācārya, unceremoniously attacked Kṛṣṇa, although according to the prevailing rules of chivalry one’s chariot driver should never be attacked by the enemy. But Aśvatthāmā
* This Arjuna, living in Vṛndāvana, is different from the friend of the same name to whom  Bhagavad-gītā  was spoken.