Viśvāmitra

Viśvāmitra was born a king, the son of Gādhi, and he became a brahmin seer by austerity alone, against every setback his own anger and desire could put in his way. He fought Vasiṣṭha and lost, made a heaven of his own for a king the gods refused, saved a boy bound for sacrifice, and for a thousand years did not breathe. He saw the hymns of the third book of the Ṛgveda, among them the Gāyatrī. And he took the boy Rāma from his father's court, gave him his weapons, and led him to the bow he would break to win Sītā, the daughter of King Janaka, whom her father had promised to the man strong enough to string it.