In traditional belief, there is only one heaven. This concept of one heaven comes from monotheistic religions. So, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism speak of one heaven, where souls go after death, if one has been true to the way of god. However, in Hinduism, there is a reference to three heavens. There is Swarga, the heaven of Indra; there is Vaikuntha, the heaven of Vishnu; and there is Kailash, the heaven of Shiva. These represent three very different concepts. None of these places is accessible by following any law of god, because the idea of commandments and alignment to the law of god are not Hindu concepts. That's an Abrahamic concept.

In the Vedas, there is no concept of Vaikuntha or Kailash; these concepts come from a much later time: from the puranic traditions. In the Vedas, performance of duties, especially the performance of sacrifices and rituals such as yagya, enabled one to get access to Swarga. In later traditions, references appear for the first time in the Mahabharata of the belief that any time in Swarga is temporary and not permanent. There is a higher heaven beyond Swarga, which is referred to as Vaikuntha, the heaven of Vishnu. Similar ideas appear in the Puranas, only here those who worship Shiva prefer Kailash to Vishnu's Vaikuntha.