The texts of Vedanta have, in the main, given birth to two sub-systems of philosophy, namely the Non-dualism or Absolutism of Sankaracharya and the Theism of Ramanuja, Madhavacharya and other philosophers. According to the Non-dualist, Brahman or Pure Consciousness, is the only Reality the universe of names and forms is unreal, and man, in his true essence, is one with Brahman.
The Theists accept a Personal God as Ultimate Reality. He is related to the universe and embodied souls in varying degrees. According to Ramanuja, the upholder of Visistadvaita, or Qualified Non-dualism, the Reality is Brahman; but the individual souls and the universe are also real, being parts of Brahman or modes of His manifestation. Brahman, with the universe and the individual souls, constitutes the whole of Reality. This is illustrated by the philosophers of this school with the metaphor of the pomegranate fruit. The seeds are the living souls and the rind is the universe. One cannot think of the fruit without the seeds and the rind.
According the Madhavacharya, the Dualist, the Universe and the living souls are separate from God. While the universe is a material entity, the souls are spiritual in nature. The souls, though separate from God, cannot exist without Him. Their existence is entirely dependent upon God. Madhavacharya speaks of living beings as the servants of God.