Why was Arjuna degraded into a hunter, in his next birth despite being associated with Krishna, who was God-in-human-form?

[A question by a devotee brought to Swami by Śrī Anil] Swami replied: Arjuna had some ego. Even though he was associated with Kṛṣṇa, the ego-component always existed with him. Due to this, he could not develop complete faith in the Human Incarnation. Arjuna did a lot of penance to please God Śiva, who is an energetic form of God. For this reason, that devotion to Lord Śiva followed him even in his next birth. He was reborn as the hunter, Kaṇṇappa and this shows the nature of his ego. In that birth, he was blessed by God Śiva, the energetic form of God. After the birth as Kaṇṇappa, he was born as Swāmi Vivekananda and came in contact with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṃsa, the Human Incarnation. In that birth too, he was doubting Paramahaṃsa, even as Paramahaṃsa was on His death-bed. He doubted in his mind whether Paramahaṃsa could really be the human form of God when He was suffering so much. Then, Paramahaṃsa told him that He was indeed Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. With that, Vivekananda’s faith in the contemporary Human Incarnation was strengthened and he got the final salvation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★