Theology and Cosmology of Šankara and Rāmānuja

In Šankara’s opinion, Brahman possesses two significantly different aspects: sagūna and nīrigūna. Nīrigūna is the indeterminate and beyond qualities aspect of Brahman, while sagūna (Īšvara) includes Brahman’s determination and specification which is manifested in this world by illusion or māyā. According to Šankara, reality of the world is merely illusory (vivarta) and it doesnt contain any reality other than Brahman. In contrast, Rāmānuja, in spite of the fact that he believes in the unique essence of Brahman and views the phenomenal world and selves related to him as the body is to the soul or as a part of Brahman, but he maintains they themselves have a reality essentially distinctable from Brahman. According to him, appearing of the world from māyā, which is the creative force of Brahman and his Šakti, has reality (Parināma) per se.