Was Kartavirya Arjuna cursed to be forgotten under the shadow of the Pandava prince Arjuna?

Question

I found a story from a Facebook Post which gives an incident about Kartavirya Arjuna who is also known as SahasraBahu Arjuna (thousand armed Arjuna). In that post, the author says that Kartavirya Arjuna was cursed by a sage named Apava.

Following is the relevant [excerpt] from that post:

Angered by the destruction of his ashrama, the Sage Apava (literally “Watery” see the poetic construct Water Ashrama destroyed by Agni (with aurva the hidden fire in water present in world)) cursed Kartavirya Arjuna that he who was renowned will be forgotten, another Arjuna will take his place, who will be the greatest Warrior and the greatest student.

Is this story true? Was Kartavirya Arjuna cursed by a sage that he will be forgotten under the shadow of Arjuna?

Answer 1

Yes, the story is told in this chapter of the Vayu Purana. Once Surya the sun god asked Kartavirya Arjuna for food. Kartavirya Arjuna offered the entire Earth to Surya, who proceeded to consume things with his fire all over the world. In particular, Surya burnt down the Ashram of the sage Vasishta, who is also known as Apava because he's the son of Mitra and Varuna (as I discuss here). So Vasishta put a curse on Kartavirya Arjuna that another person named Arjuna would surpass his deed of burning a forest, and he also cursed him that he would be killed by Parashurama:

O Haihaya, since you have not spared this forest of mine another man will set aside even this difficult task achieved by you. He will be Kunti's son Arjuna. He will not be a king. O Arjuna, the extremely powerful Rama, the foremost among those who strike with weapons, will cut off and shatter your thousand arms. The powerful Brahmana and Sage of great strength will kill you.

This is a reference to the burning of the Khandava forest by the Pandava Arjuna, which I discuss here.