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How did Ramanuja explain the relationship between God, souls, and the universe?

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Painting depicting Hindu gods Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma with Ganesha standing and paying homage to Mahadevi, who is seated on a lotus and playing a stringed instrument. — Hinduism Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma (left to right) pay homage to Mahadevi (the great goddess, in white in the form of Saraswati), attended by the elephant-headed deity Ganesha, in a painting dated c. 1750.

Ramanuja, a prominent 11th-century philosopher of the Vishishtadvaita school of Vedanta, explained the relationship between God (Brahman), individual souls, and the universe through the central analogy of a body and a soul.12

In his system, God is a personal being who possesses infinite perfections. The universe—comprising both conscious souls (chit) and unconscious matter (achit)—is considered a real transformation of Brahman, forming his "body". Just as a body is controlled by and inseparable from the soul, the material world and finite individuals are substantive realities that are entirely dependent on God for their existence.123

Ramanuja maintained that while God is the inner soul of all beings, the individual soul remains distinct from God; they are one in nature but not identical. Even after achieving moksha (liberation), the individual does not lose their sense of "I," though they are freed from the false ego of independence. Through bhakti (devotion) and self-surrender, the soul attains an eternal, blissful life in the presence of God.132