Bhishma agreed to his request as he assured Dronacharya,
"You don't have to worry about that. Rudra's proficiency lies in his divine strength. His strength is comparable to Bhima. You just have to educate him on basic knowledge of everything. Leave his advance education to Guru Parshuram."
Dronacharya agreed to these terms as he replied,
"If it is basic knowledge, then I will surely teach him to the best of my capabilities. Regarding battle tactics and strategies, I won't help him out. Since he is seven years old he would be the youngest of all my students. He can hear my common lectures with Pandavas and Kauravas."
Bhishma heaved a sigh of relief. He managed to convince Guru Dronacharya to educate Rudra. He still clearly remembered the day he met Dronacharya for the first time as Bhishma recalled the event.
------------------------------------
Ten years ago,
One particular day, all of the princes went out in a forest nearby Hastinapur to play and frolic around. They were playing with a ball made of leather as they tossed it around.
Bhima who possessed superior strength tossed the ball with a tad bit more force as it bounced further from their playground and flopped in a nearby well. All of the princes reprimanded Bhima for it as they tried their best to get the ball out from the well, but were met with failure.
As they were about to give up and return to capital, they met a Brahmana on their way. All of them greeted Brahmana out of courtesy and respect. Noticing the sad expression on their faces Brahmana asked in curiosity,
"Royal Princes'! Why all of you looked so troubled? Maybe this Poor Brahmana might help you in some way."
Duryodhana, the eldest brother of Kauravas had an annoyed expression on his face as he was pissed by the attitude of Bhima earlier. Every person in the Royal Palace was aware of the rivalry between him and Bhima. Both of them were born with superior strength from birth and would often clash with each other on the slightest disagreement. The majority of the time Bhima would come out as the victor. His mood was sour from an earlier mishap caused by Bhima and now this Brahman claimed to help them. He mocked the Brahmana in annoyance,
"Give it a rest Brahman! You aren't capable of helping us out."
Yudhishthira, the eldest brother of Pandavas reprimanded Duryodhana as he bowed to Brahmana,
"Brahmanavar! We were playing with our leather ball in the nearby forest. Bhima exerted a lot more force and the ball dropped inside the well. We are unable to draw it out from the well. After several failed attempts we gave up and decided to end our playing session and return to Capital."
Brahmana was pleased by the courtesy of Yudhishthira as he commended him,
"Prince your manners are very commendable. Gather some small wooden sticks for me and I will draw out your ball from the Well."
All of the Princes were confused about the co-relation between the wooden stick and the ball. But they still followed the command nonetheless. They gathered several wooden sticks and laid them in front of the Brahmana.
When several sticks were gathered, the Brahman motioned them to stop. All of the Princes looked curiously at Brahmana, waiting for his next course of action. Brahman picked up a stick aimed at the floating ball inside the well and launched it towards the ball. The stick lodged itself into the ball. All of the princes were stunned at this amazing sight. Brahmana continued as he threw yet another stick which lodged itself atop the first stick. He continued with this process for a while as he stacked several sticks on top of each other.
The final stick protruded out from the well and Brahmana pulled the stick up together with the ball. All of the princes clapped in amazement. Yudhishthira was stunned the most as he knew about the relevance of such a deed. This Brahmana in front of him commanded supreme mastery in the art of archery and was a very powerful person. He respectfully spoke,
"You have our gratitude Brahmanavar. If you don't mind, could you possibly introduce yourself? A person with such superior archery skill would be not an unknown figure among famous warriors."
Brahmana nodded to Yudhishthira as he spoke,
"Tell your Pitamah, my name is Drona. I am the disciple of Guru Parshuram."
With these words, Brahmana left the cheerful Princes behind. Yudhishthira hurriedly left for the palace. He met Pitamah Bhishma and narrated the entirety of the event in detail.
Bhishma hurriedly ordered all of his soldiers, spies, and servants to search for Drona and respectfully escort him to Palace. After a few days of search, they were successfully able to locate Drona and escort him back to the royal palace. Bhishma respectfully greeted Drona as he requested,
"I heard a lot about you from Guru Parshuram and I would like to request you to educate Princes in the art of celestial weapons and warfare."
Drona was pleasantly surprised when he was requested by Gangaputra Bhishma to teach Princes. His family was living in miserable condition and this request came as an opportunity to get out of poverty. So, Drona immediately agreed to the request and became the teacher of Princes as he opened a Gurukul.
--------------------------------------
Next day,
Rudra woke up early in the morning. He was used to waking up early in the morning as he had to work for the fat landlord. Rudra shook his head as he discarded such thoughts. His parents wanted him to live happily and for their sake, he will live his life to the fullest.
Last night was probably one of the most comfortable night for him. He slept on a very soft and smooth bed covered with the finest silk and was very comfortable to lie on. It was the first time for him to lie on such a luxurious bed and he liked the feeling. Many maid and servants helped him to wash up and dress in luxurious robes. His new clothes were a far cry from the tattered rags he wore earlier. He ate a sumptuous breakfast and got out of his living quarters in the palace.
Pitamah Bhishma greeted him as he stepped out,
"Are you ready Rudra? Today will be your first meeting with your teacher and Princes."
Rudra was nervous to meet the teacher and Princes as he fidgeted and asked Pitamah,
"Pitamah!...I am a Sudra. They wouldn't discriminate me would they?"
Pitamah convinced him,
"No, nobody would discriminate with you. Just calm down your nerves, everything will be alright."
Rudra nodded as they began walking towards Gurukul of Guru Dronacharya. Soon, they arrived at Gurukul and were greeted by lots of teenagers practicing with weapons in the open field.
One of the teenagers was wielding a spear as he thrust it forward and spun it vertically as he practiced the weapon art. Another boy wielded a mace as he swings it around with mighty force and shattered many boulders and iron statues with one hit. There was another boy who wielded a bow as he shot down a very faraway target blocked my mechanisms.
All of them stopped their practice when they spotted Bhishma and they eagerly ran to Bhishma and greeted him,
"Pranaam Pitamah!"
Bhishma was very happy to see his grandsons as he blessed them,
"Ayushmanbhav! (Long live)"
They were excited to see their Pitamah visit them in their Gurukul as they curiously asked,
"Pitamah! What's the matter for your sudden visit today?"
"Hoho!...today I brought someone to Gurukul to study with all of you. Come and meet Rudra, he will study with all of you in Gurukul. Treat him like your younger brother and take care of him."
Rudra heard his name called by Pitamah as he curiously peeked to look at Prince from the back of Pitamah. Pandavas were stunned to see Rudra as he was very young and they excitedly approached him.
Rudra slowly walked from behind the Pitamah as he introduced himself,
"My name is …..Rudra. I am a ….Sudra. I was brought by …..Pitamah from the outskirts of the ….Kuru Kingdom. It is nice ….to meet you all"
Rudra stuttered as he completed his monologue. He was nervous as it was his first time interacting with children older than him. Pitamah nodded at this interaction as he believed overtime Rudra will be able to interact properly with others.
All of the princes began to introduce themselves. The spear-wielding boy came to the front as he introduced everyone,
"Nice to meet you too, Rudra. My name is Yudhishthira. The one wielding the mace is Bhima, the one with the bow is Arjuna."
Two more children came and joined them as they greeted Pitamah. Yudhishthira continued,
"These two are Nakul and Sahadeva. All of us are collectively called as five Pandavas. It is a pleasure to meet you."
All of the Pandavas greeted Rudra. Rudra also greeted them in return. He began to enjoy his interaction with Pandavas.
He began to notice their characters as he noticed Yudhishthira is noble, Bhima is strong, Arjuna is sharp, Nakul is handsome and Sahadeva is wise.
As he was assessing the Pandavas, they were assessing him too. Bhima unable to restrain his battle lust came forwards as he challenged Rudra,
"I feel that you have high physical strength, I would like to test your strength."