Prākāra
Prākāra is one of the most precise technical terms in Viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy, derived from the Sanskrit root pra-kāra meaning 'form', 'mode', or 'manner'. In the philosophical context established by Rāmānuja, a prākāra is a qualifying attribute or mode that belongs to and is inseparable from its possessor (prākārī). The relationship prākāra-prākārī (mode and its possessor) is the philosophical formulation that lies at the heart of Rāmānuja's entire system and distinguishes Viśiṣṭādvaita from both Advaita and Dvaita.
In Viśiṣṭādvaita, Brahman — Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa — is the prākārī (the entity possessing modes). The universe of conscious souls (cit, jīvātmans) and insentient matter (acit, Prakṛti) constitutes His prākāras — the modes or qualifications that constitute His body (śarīra). This means that souls and matter are neither identical to Brahman (as in Advaita's absolute monism) nor completely separate from Him (as in a dualist framework), but are His real qualifying attributes — they are Brahman as He is characterized and qualified by these modes. The philosophical formula 'cit-acit-viśiṣṭaṃ brahma' (Brahman as qualified by cit and acit) captures this precisely. This is why the system is called Viśiṣṭādvaita — the non-duality (advaita) of the qualified (viśiṣṭa, i.e., Brahman as qualified by His prākāras).
The prākāra doctrine solves the central theological problem that confronts all Vedānta schools: how to reconcile the Upaniṣadic declarations of identity ('tat tvam asi', 'aham brahmāsmi') with the equally clear declarations of distinction between the individual soul and Brahman. Rāmānuja's answer is that the soul is Brahman's prākāra — identified with Brahman as its qualifying mode, yet distinct from Brahman as a whole entity. The prākāra-prākārī relationship is the philosophical elaboration of the śarīra-śarīrī (body-soul) relationship: the soul is Brahman's śarīra (body), and a body is inseparable from its inner controller (śarīrī) while remaining distinct from it in nature and function.