Hastinapur was named after King Hastin who ruled the capital before the Kuru Dynasty. After a few generations, Kurus were born and they renamed the Kingdom to the Kuru Kingdom but kept the name of Capital as Hastinapur.
Hastinapur translates to 'The City of Elephants' from 'Hastina' meaning 'elephants' and 'Pur' meaning 'City'. Hastinapur is located on the right bank of Holy River 'Ganga'.
The chariot entered inside the Capital Hastinapur. Rudra was mesmerized by the beauty of the Capital. Many luxurious palaces and manors coated with gold were shining in daylight almost blinding his vision. Streets were filled with all kinds of vendors selling foods, clothes, accessories, and various other things. This was the first time for Rudra to arrive in the Capital and he was excited to tour the Capital.
He tugged Bhishma's clothes as he pleaded to him,
"Pitamah! This is my first time in a city. It is very huge and wonderful. There are lots of new things to see. Pitamah, I want to explore the Capital. Please come with me. Please!"
Bhishma was amused by the antics of Rudra and he signaled the Sarathi to stop the Chariot. He carried Rudra over his shoulders as he disembarked from the Chariot. He ordered the Sarathi to return to Palace and inform the servants about Rudra. The chariot departed as Pitamah moved forward inside the Capital.
Sitting on the shoulders of Pitamah, Rudra curiously looked around left and right. He was very excited to see such a large city, a far cry from his backward village. A fragrant smell entered his nose as he trailed the source of the fragrance.
On a nearby stall, a vendor was selling 'Apilpa' a cake made out of cow milk and sugarcane juice. Rudra's stomach growled as he urged Pitamah to move towards the stall. Pitamah nodded to Rudra as he moved towards the stall.
After the complete digestion of 'Sahastra Gajbala' Rudra was granted the raw strength of ten thousand elephants. This also increased his appetite by a lot allowing him to consume a monstrous amount of food. His body was in its growth stage and he required a lot of nutrition to nourish his body. He was barely able to fill his belly while he was in the village. Now after the evolution of his strength and body his appetite was raised by a notch.
Bhishma reached the stall and asked the vendor to prepare ten servings of Apilpa. The busy vendor turned his gaze towards Bhishma and was stunned to see him. He kneeled on the ground as he greeted Bhishma,
"Pranaam!..... Mahamahim Bhishma!.... It is a great honor for me to attend to your needs. I will prepare them right away."
He hurriedly began to prepare Apilpa as he baked them in an earthen stove. He shoved some firewood into the earthen stove and began his preparation. This sudden outburst of the vendor gathered the attention of nearby people. All of them were stunned to see Mahamahim Bhishma as he greeted him in courtesy. Bhishma nodded to all of them and motioned them to continue their work. Rudra was attentively watching these interactions and he asked curiously,
"Pitamah!... you are very famous in the Capital. All of the people know about you and are able to recognize you very easily. And here am I who wasn't aware of your identity."
Pitamah gently placed Rudra down on the ground and he stroked Rudra's head as he spoke,
"I have protected the prosperity of Hastinapur for three centuries. Every child who grew up in Hastinapur knew about me. It is no wonder you weren't able to recognize me as you lived on the outskirts of the Kuru Kingdom."
Apilpas were served to Rudra as he gobbled them hurriedly. Bhishma reprimanded Rudra to slow down and he ate at a slow pace. The vendor continued preparing servings of Apilpa as Rudra continued to eat. After ten servings of Apilpa, sweat trickled down the vendor's head as he wondered about the identity of the child.
'Is this child the famed Bhima of Pandavas famed for his monstrous appetite. He addressed Mahamahim as 'Pitamah' as seems very close to him. He must be Bhima, but again he appeared to be too young for his age if he is Bhima.'
Shaking his head the vendor discarded all these unnecessary thoughts as he continued to prepare the food. Rudra unceasingly ate Apilpas as the entirety of his hunger was unleashed. After chomping down twenty-five servings Rudra stopped as he rubbed his stomach as he felt fulfilled. At this point, the entire body of the vendor was drenched in sweat and all of his raw ingredients were about to finish. He heaved a sigh of relief when Rudra was satisfied.
Pitamah Bhishma was shocked by the appetite of Rudra as it was even more exaggerated than Bhima at his age. He remembered the words of his Guru as he smiled warily.
Bhishma took out a Gold Mudra and handed it to the vendor. The vendor was shocked to see such a large amount of money and he hurriedly pleaded,
"Mahamahim Bhishma!... this is too much. I can't take such a large amount of sum for these servings. Please give me five bronze Mudras only."
Bhishma was surprised by the honesty of the vendor. He nodded and trudged the Gold Mudra in vendor's hand as he ordered,
"This is your reward for serving us. I am extremely pleased by your honesty and work ethic. So, take it as a reward from me for your virtues."
The vendor hurriedly bowed down and accepted the Gold Mudra. This was his approximate earning of an entire year. He was greatly pleased as he thanked Bhishma again and again.
Rudra watched the entirety of the event from the sideline and he pledged to himself to always be honest. This entire session came to an end as Pitamah Bhishma and Rudra moved on.
They spent the entirety of the evening touring around various scenic spots in the Capital. It was near dusk as both of them walked towards the Royal Palace. Rudra was very excited and pleased as he toured the town. He was in a cheerful mood when he saw various beautiful sceneries and ate various kinds of food.
At one spot, there was a tribe of people performing a circus show with various animals. He clapped his hands happily when he saw various dancers and performers walking on a tight narrow rope. He excitedly approached the elephants and mistakenly lifted one of the elephants from the ground. His aura calmed down the elephants as all of the elephants bowed to him like a subject paying respect to their king.
Yet there was another event when he boarded a boat near the bank of River Ganga to tour around the capital. He excitedly jumped around in the boat as his foot slipped and he fell in the river. But surprisingly he floated atop the water without even a drop of water drenching his clothes. He excitedly rushed over water as he reached the bank of River Ganga.
Bhishma got a headache from the playful nature of this child. But he happily carried the tired Rudra back to the palace. It was almost night when they reached the Palace.
The servants hurriedly welcomed Mahamahim Bhishma as he marched over to his palace. He arranged a bath for Rudra and ordered the royal chefs to prepare a feast for Rudra. He specifically ordered the chefs to prepare the same amount of food consumed by Bhima.
The chefs were surprised by this but they still proceeded to work accordingly. After arranging for every need of Rudra, Bhishma marched out from his palace to the quarters of Guru Dronacharya. He needed to inform Guru Dronacharya about the inclusion of a new student in his 'Path Sala'.
Bhishma had a headache as he remembered about the oath taken by Guru Dronacharya. Dronacharya was his fellow junior disciple from Guru Parshuram. Both of them learned the art of archery and warfare from Guru Parshuram. Later on, Dronacharya moved to the capital and took an oath to only teach Royals the art of celestial weapons and warfare.
Bhishma thought about convincing Dronacharya to at least provide basic education to Rudra. He soon reached the quarters of Guru Dronacharya. He knocked lightly on the door and waited for the door to open. After waiting for a while, the door was pulled open and he was greeted by a middle-aged Brahmana.
Dronacharya was stunned to see Bhishma on his doorsteps. He hurriedly bowed to Bhishma as he saluted,
"Pranaam Gangaputra Bhishma! Please take a seat."
He invited Bhishma inside his quarters. After sitting comfortably inside his quarter and offering some water he politely asked,
"What's the matter Gangaputra Bhishma for you to personally visit my quarters such late at night."
Bhishma sighed as he told Dronacharya about the matter of Rudra. He continued,
"Our Guru Parshuram would personally train him in the arts of Celestial weapons and warfare after the age of twelve. So, till then I would like to ask you to teach and train Rudra in basics."
Dronacharya mused for a while before he replied,
"If it is only basic training in weapons and warfare then I would surely teach him. But in the art of archery, I can't teach him to proficiency. I had already promised Arjuna to make him the best celestial archer in this lok."
Bhishma nodded to Dronacharya as he was satisfied enough for Dronacharya to teach Basics to Rudra.