Texts 48-49
tatrāśvāḥ śaibya-sugrīva-
meghapuṣpa-balāhakāḥ
tamasi bhraṣṭa-gatayo
babhūvur bharatarṣabha
tān dṛṣṭvā bhagavān kṛṣṇo
mahā-yogeśvareśvaraḥ
sahasrāditya-saṅkāśaṁ
sva-cakraṁ prāhiṇot puraḥ
tatra — at that place; aśvāḥ — the horses; śaibya-sugrīva-meghapuṣpa-balāhakāḥ — named Śaibya, Sugrīva, Meghapuṣpa and Balāhaka; tamasi — in the darkness; bhraṣṭa — having lost; gatayaḥ — their way; babhūvuḥ — became; bharata-ṛṣabha — O best of the Bhāratas; tān — them; dṛṣṭvā — seeing; bhagavān — the Personality of Godhead; kṛṣṇaḥ — Kṛṣṇa; mahā — supreme; yoga-īśvara — of masters of yoga; īśvaraḥ — the master; sahasra — a thousand; āditya — suns; saṅkāśam — comparable to; sva — His personal; cakram — disc weapon; prāhiṇot — sent; puraḥ — in front.
In that darkness the chariot’s horses — Śaibya, Sugrīva, Meghapuṣpa and Balāhaka — lost their way. Seeing them in this condition, O best of the Bhāratas, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme master of all masters of yoga, sent His Sudarśana disc before the chariot. That disc shone like thousands of suns.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives the following insight into this verse. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s horses had descended from Vaikuṇṭha to participate in His earthly pastimes. Since the Lord Himself was pretending to be a finite human being, His steeds now acted confused to enhance the drama of the situation for all who would one day hear this pastime.