SB 7.9.36
evam sahasra-vadananghri-sirah-karoru-
nasadya-karna-nayanabharanayudhadhyam
mayamayam sad-upalaksita-sannivesam
drstva maha-purusam apa mudam viriñcah
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Lord Brahma could then see You possessing thousands and thousands of faces, feet, heads, hands, thighs, noses, ears and eyes. You were very nicely dressed, being decorated and bedecked with varieties of ornaments and weapons. Seeing You in the form of Lord Visnu, Your symptoms and form being transcendental, Your legs extending from the lower planets, Lord Brahma achieved transcendental bliss.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Lord Brahma, being completely pure, could see the original form of the Lord as Visnu, having many thousands of faces and forms. This process is called self-realization. Genuine self-realization consists not of perceiving the impersonal effulgence of the Lord, but seeing face to face the transcendental form of the Lord. As distinctly mentioned here, Lord Brahma saw the Supreme Lord as maha-purusa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna also saw Krsna in this same way. Therefore he told the Lord, param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan purusam sasvatam divyam: “You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal divine person.” The Lord is parama-purusa, the supreme form. Purusam sasvatam: He is everlastingly the supreme enjoyer. It is not that the impersonal Brahman assumes a form; on the contrary, the impersonal Brahman effulgence is an emanation from the supreme form of the Lord. Upon being purified, Brahma could see the supreme form of the Lord. The impersonal Brahman cannot have heads, noses, ears, hands and legs. This is not possible, for these are attributes of the Lord’s form.
The word mayamayam means “spiritual knowledge.” This is explained by Madhvacarya. Mayamayam jñana-svarupam. The word mayamayam, describing the Lord’s form, should not be taken to mean illusion. Rather, the Lord’s form is factual, and seeing this form is the result of perfect knowledge. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita: bahunam janmanam ante jñanavan mam prapadyate. The word jñanavan refers to one who is perfectly in knowledge. Such a person can see the Personality of Godhead, and therefore he surrenders unto the Lord. The Lord’s being symptomized by a face, nose, ears and so on is eternal. Without such a form, no one can be blissful. The Lord, however, is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, as stated in the sastra (isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah). When one is in perfect transcendental bliss, he can see the Lord’s supreme form (vigraha). In this regard, Srila Madhvacarya says:
gandhakhya devata yadvat
prthivim vyapya tisthati
evam vyaptam jagad visnum
brahmatma-stham dadarsa ha
Lord Brahma saw that as aromas and colors spread throughout the earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead pervades the cosmic manifestation in a subtle form.