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Many people say that Hinduism believes that we take only one birth and after that way go to heaven or hell. As example -

  1. In Vedas , there is no mention that we take multiple births. Vedas indicate that we take only one birth.
  2. Rituals like offering Pind daan to ancestors indicate that our ancestors are still in the heaven or hell.
  3. In gita Arjun says to Krishna that ancestors of famlies whose varna dharma get destroyed fall from heaven to hell and they resides in hell for eternity.

Gita 1:42

Hybrid castes ensure that the family line and those who destroyed the family line, both go to hell. Because their ancestors fall and are deprived of offerings of funereal cakes and drink

Gita 1:44

O Janardana! If the family dharma is destroyed, those men are doomed to spend an eternity in hell. So we have heard.

  1. Also It is being said that sins and virtues done by people are sometimes borne by the descendants of people who committed sins or virtues. Thus it also indicates no next birth.

Many say that the belief about taking multiple births was added latter by people who didn't understood the scriptures properly. Because scriptures were not in written form but only in the memory of people. So, some people later changed the scriptures.

Also people claiming to remember previous lives doesn't prove that it was their previous birth . As It can be a case of transfer of memory also. There lives a boy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhGX1YCsvAM) who claimed to remember his multiple previous lives and many of those people (i.e. his claimed previous lives) lived simultaneously. So it is clearly a transfer of memory thing going here rather than previous lives.

river
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    The very premise of this Q is based on false interpretation and extrapolation of BG; Shouri clearly states that in a previous birth, He was Narayan and Arjuna was Nara; that They had been born many a times, He remembers it all but Partha doesn't; also that "that which is born is sure to die, that which is dead, will be born again" – RGH Aug 03 '21 at 15:09
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    @RishitaGhosh Vedas also mention about only one birth . Rituals like Pind-daan to ancestors also indicates only one birth.
    I didn't only quote Gita.     – river Aug 03 '21 at 15:13
  • @river a day in pitruloka = 1 earth year and time passes differently in diff lokas; so it may take a few generations here on earth for the manes to take rebirth plus pind daan nowhere proves there's only 1 birth; how'd you explain karmic cycle and samsara then? – RGH Aug 03 '21 at 15:15
  • @river wrong assumption in pt 2. Doing pind daan does NOT mean they are still in hell or heaven…https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/48120/8735. Garuda Purana and skanda Purana explains how offering is reached to them Even if they moved to other yoni – Ketan Aug 03 '21 at 15:29
  • @Ketan Garuda Purana , Skanda Purana are ridiculous scriptures. The description of hell written in them is not logically possible. In it it is written that people who eat sweet secretly are tortured in hell. – river Aug 03 '21 at 15:33
  • @river Regarding pt 3, Krishna says this back to Arjuna in 2.13 that Jiva passes to another body https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/2/verse/13 – Ketan Aug 03 '21 at 15:36
  • "As It can be a case of transfer of memory also." - is memory transfer proven? If so, how and from who? – Ikshvaku Aug 03 '21 at 15:36
  • @river https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-taittiriya-upanishad/d/doc79811.html. Taittiriya Upanishad - read about mentions of previous karmas. Reviews of part lives before birth. There are so many other mentions of how Jiva is again born after good karma has been used – Ketan Aug 03 '21 at 15:48
  • @Ikshvaku It is not proven . But when someone claims that he was this and this person is his previous lives , then most probable thing one can conclude is "transfer of memory". As not everyone remembers their previous lives. – river Aug 03 '21 at 15:48
  • @river I have provided reference from Gita and Upanishad. Please update your question and provide verse from Veda that talks about one birth. Also where have you read about 5th? – Ketan Aug 03 '21 at 16:01
  • @Ketan In Mahabharat , it is written that husband enters into the womb of his wife and is born again. Veda don't mention about next birth after death or birth of humans into animals . Isn't it enough to indicate that in Vedas there is no concept of being born again ? – river Aug 03 '21 at 16:42
  • @Ketan Quoting from your link - //Ātman is said to be born when the body is born just as when the pot is produced the ākāśa of the pot is said to be produced.// – river Aug 03 '21 at 17:08
  • @river please read and try to understand what it means. It is NOT saying that Akasa is produced everytime pot is created. Because that would mean if you destroy the pot then akasa gets destroyed. It says Akasa OF the pot. This has been described in Mandukya Upanishad. Akasa is existing before pot but due to pot production it got enclosed within that space. Read the commentary on Mandukya Upanishad to get understanding. – Ketan Aug 03 '21 at 17:48
  • @river "then most probable thing one can conclude is "transfer of memory"", - it's not probable at all. You're assuming his clear memory of living a past life is fake (meaning memory is transferred from someone else). When someone remembers something clearly, you have to prove that it's fake before calling it fake. – Ikshvaku Aug 03 '21 at 18:58
  • @river "Veda don't mention about next birth after death or birth of humans into animals" - You're wrong. From Chhandogya Upanishad: "Those whose conduct has been good here will shortly get birth such as a brahmana, a kshatriya, or a vaishya. But those whose conduct has been evil will be born in evil births shortly such as the birth of a dog, or as a pig, or a chandala." – Ikshvaku Aug 03 '21 at 18:59
  • @Ikshvaku Upnishads are not Vedas. Upnishads are basically commentary of a particular person about vedas. Basically Upnishads are that person's understanding of the vedas. – river Aug 03 '21 at 19:07