Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita asserts that Atman (souls) and Brahman are different, a difference that is never transcended. God Vishnu alone is independent, all other gods and beings are dependent on Him. However, in contrast to Dvaita Vedanta philosophy of Madhvacharya, Ramanuja asserts qualified non-dualism, that souls share the same essential nature of Brahman, and that there is a universal sameness in the quality and degree of bliss possible for human souls, and every soul can reach the bliss state of God Himself. While the 13th- to 14th-century Madhvacharya asserted both qualitative and quantitative pluralism of souls, Ramanuja asserted qualitative monism and quantitative pluralism of souls, states Sharma. The other philosophical difference between Madhvacharya's Vaishnavism Sampradaya and Ramanuja's Vaishnavism Sampradaya, has been on the idea of eternal damnation; Madhvacharya believed that some souls are eternally doomed and damned, while Ramanuja disagreed and accepted the Advaita Vedanta view that everyone can, with effort, achieve inner liberation and spiritual freedom (moksha).