A. Answer in one sentence each.

Question 1. Who is the speaker in the poem?

Answer. The poet is the speaker in the poem.

Question 2. What does 'Concord' mean?

Answer. 'Concord' means friendship and peace among people and countries.

Question 3. Whose concord is wished for it first?

Answer. Concord with our own people is wished for at first.

Question 4. Who are the Asvins?

Answer. Asvins are the dual gods (devas) who symbolise perfect unity of the natives and the strangers.

Question 5. What shouldn't be fought against?

Answer. The divine spirit within us shouldn't be fought against.

B. Answer in about 50-60 words each

Question 1. Which are the two kinds of people referred to in the verse? (2010)

Answer. The verse is an invocation to the worldly people. The two types of people are referred to here.
The first type of people are those who surround us and whom we know well. Will live among them. They
are our own people. the second type of people are those who are strangers who do not belong to us.
We don't know them. It means they belong to different culture and land. We are foreign to us.

In short the first type of refers to our countrymen while others refers to foreign people.
Question 2. 'Let not the battle-cry rise amidst many slain Nor the arrows of the War-God fall with the
break of the day'. What is implied in these lines?

Answer. These lines imply that we have already fought many battles. There are a lot of war victims. We
have already lost a lot of life and property. The cries still haunt us. So we should not let any more cries
caused by battles. Instead, we should resolve all issues peacefully.

Question 3. In how many ways is the unity sought?

Answer. Unity has been sought in many ways. First, we should have concord with our own people as
well as with strangers. We should unite in mind and purposes. We should not let anymore battle-cry
rise.

Question 4. Why does the speaker invoke the gods-Asvins?

Answer. Asvins are the dual gods (devas) who symbolise perfect unity of the natives and the strangers.
the poet here, while making invocation for unity, invokes the gods-Asvins in order to establish perfect
concord a

C. Answer in about 75 words each:

Question 1. What is the message of the verse?

Answer. The verse ‘Invocation’ has a very sound message. In the present context, the poet feels that
there is a need for coordination among people. This coordination should be extended to foreign people
also. We should have cordial relation and peace among our own men and also with strangers. This is the
only way that can bring peace and harmony everywhere.

Question 2. Why does the speaker not want the battle-cry to be raised? (2009)

Answer. The poet intends to establish peace in the world. He wishes for the unity among people by
having concord among ourselves and also with the aliens. He denigrates battles because battles are the
root cause for all ruins. People are victimized. Battles never resolve any problem but add many more
leaving a lot of unanswered questions and cries without end. We have already suffered a lot. Any more
cry will finish us completely. Hence we should make an effort to resolve our differences by peaceful
ways.

Question 3. How does the speaker wish to achieve concord? (2012)

Answer. This poem is an invocation for the establishment of concord in the world. First, we should have
concord with our own people then with strangers. Here ‘own people’ refers to our countrymen with
whom we live and share all our joys and sorrows. All the time is with us. Then we should have concord
with the strangers i.e., the aliens who contribute to our global vision. We can achieve concord by
resolving our disputes or issues through peaceful ways because battles only ruin us. We should
condemn them.

and harmony between our countrymen and the foreigners