Traitavada had a set of possibilities different from those of Advaita and Vishishta-Advaita: Dayananda regarded man as an subject of cognition and action: the concept of activity of the individual has become central to this teaching. The essence of Dayananda's opposition to the two leading trends of the Vedanta is seen by the author in that he proposed a kind of turn away from the mystical self-realisation on the basis of one's inner experience (as in Advaita) or acquisition of salvation "by the grace of God" (as in Vishishta-Advaita), towards a world interpretation whereby it is only the individual's direct activity in the present time that brings him closer to Brahman.
It is important to note that by elevating man's intellectual aspirations, Dayananda sought to combine the demand for science (mainly implying Western scientific advances) with the values of Hindu tradition. Widely known are his theses such as "the Vedas are in perfect accord with science", "the Vedas are the source of all knowledge". On the other hand, he called into question the infallibility, uniqueness and exclusiveness of Shruti; he put forward the reason and consciousness of man as a thinking and moral creature, as a
principal criterion in the interpretation of particular sacred writings as "God's word". Moreover, the reformer proclaimed that it is precisely the material and technical "mastering" of the world and the placing of natural science in its service that would open the path towards salvation. In his Traitavada the sources for cognizing Brahman and those for cognizing the natural world are fused together. Realisation of man's potentialities and his drawing closer to God do not imply for him disregard for the social system under which he lives, reposing on the thesis of incompatibility of "true" knowledge with knowledge of empirical world (as in Advaita). Nor should man live a life of recluse and cultivate selflessness and a total absorption in God. He must transform and perfect contemporary society. Dayananda did not conceive of his teaching as a doctrine divorced from the real socio-practical needs of man, and he affirmed the ideal of an active individual aware of his responsibility for all processes unfolding in the world. The willpower, abilities and altitudes, and personal interests of every individual should be aimed at the perfection of social life, winning of independence, purification of Hinduism, democratization of the system, etc.
The author puts in doubt the view that Dayananda's teaching were the embrio of the ideology of "Hindu communalism". Dayananda subjected to criticism (from rationalistic positions) the four religious systems: Puranism (this was his term for traditional Hinduism), Jainism, Christianity ans Islam seeking to demonstrate the discrepancy of their theory and practice with the norms of morality, the principles of logical reasoning and information and findings constituting scientific knowledge. He proceeded from the assumption that his teaching were God's word "correctly understood", originally set forth in the Vedas but later subjected to significant distortions. Although criticisms of Islam occupied an insignificant place in his constructs the very intention of exposing "weak points" in religious systems in conditions of a multiconfessional country was fraught with certain complication. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to tie up the name of Dayananda with the idea of superiority of the Hindu on the basis of which the ideology of communalism was developed later. Speaking of the "Aryan community" in ancient times the reformer repeated, in reverse, the Christian thesis that "there exist neither a Hellene, nor an Israelite" implying that the "Aryan world" comprised all collectives of the ancient world irrespective of race. His attempt to rationally demonstrate the verity of a particular teaching served as a warning to subsequent generations of reformers.