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58 Śramana, Vol 63, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 2012
etc after its consecration. No effects of idols are mentioned. But effects of arihanta, cakravarti, baladeva, carana, vidhyadhara, sadhus, sādhavis, śrāvaka, śrāvikā, prakṛti-bhadrikā manuṣya (simple hearted human beings), gangā, sindhudevis are mentioned. Birth of Tīrthankaras are celebrated by gods. They get mud from tirthas and water from different rivers therefore it involves violence. It is the laukika-vyavahara of the celestial beings, and not for mokṣa.
The idol worship and temple building is not a phenomenon specially limited to Jainism. We find similar movement in both Hinduism during the Puranic age and Buddhism during the Mahāyāna period. The ancient structure of Brahmanical religion had scope only for yajñas; with the Puranic age, there developed personal gods like Brahmā, Viśņu, Śiva, Gaṇeśa etc. Not only idols were made, but also temples were built for them, which led to further growth of rituals with all grandeur. Jainism, which grew along with these two cultures, naturally adopted such a way of worship. Therefore from medieval period till Lonka's arrival on the scene idol worship was widely prevalent. Lonka's protest seems to have been based on the agamic studies. The prevalence of the images has been observed right from the 1st century B.C. and it is recorded inscription in Udayagiri and Khandagiri caves near Bhubaneswar. According to the Jain tradition temple worship is as ancient as the religion itself. In other words it is eternal. Critiques of Lonka argue that there are Śāśvata Pratimas in the devaloka, therefore one can build images in Bharata region of Jambu-dvipa and there is no harm in worshipping them. Lonkā argues that such practices are the laukika-kriyās of the devatās.
Thus Lonka's points of criticism against idol-worship and temple building are:
