Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Vijnana YogaChapter 7, Shloka 7 (7.7)

Meaning of the analogy: the pearls look separate, but a single thread holds them all — one that cannot be seen.

Shankaracharya. Mattaḥ parameśvarāt parataram anyat kāraṇāntaraṃ kiñcit nāsti — there is no other cause higher than me, the Supreme Lord; aham eva jagat-kāraṇam. Protam anusyūtam anugatam anuviddhaṃ grathitam … dīrgha-tantuṣu paṭavat sūtre ca maṇi-gaṇā iva — strung — like cloth on its long threads, and pearls on a thread.

Acharya Ramanuja — body and indweller. Because I am the cause and the master, and also jñāna-śakti-balādi-guṇa-yogena — in qualities such as knowledge, power and strength — aham eva parataraḥ. Sarvam idaṃ cid-acid-vastu-jātaṃ … mac-charīra-bhūtaṃ sūtre maṇi-gaṇavad ātmatayā avasthite mayi protam āśritam — this whole world of the conscious and non-conscious is my body, and it rests in me, who am present as its self, like pearls on a thread. Evidence — Brihadaranyaka 3.7 (yasya pṛthivī śarīram), Subala 7. And: sarva-prakāraḥ parama-puruṣa eva avasthita iti sarvaiḥ śabdaiḥ tasya eva abhidhānam — the Supreme Person alone is present in all forms, so all words ultimately name him — hence the "raso'ham" and the rest of 7.8.

The difference: Shankara — Ishvara is the sole cause (and, further on, advaita); Ramanuja — the world is the Lord's body and he is its self (śarīra-śarīri-bhāva).