According to the Sejarah Nasional Indonesia interpretation of the Shivagrha inscription, Lokapāla was chosen as the successor of his father, namely Sang Jatiningrat, which was the title Rakai Pikatan had assumed after he abdicated and retreated as a brahmin.

Lokapāla was the successor of king Salaḍū Rakai Pikatan, believed by some from his queen consort Pramodawardhani.

It was Lokapala, the youngest son, that was promoted as the royal successor, because of his heroic merits in defeating his father's enemies, who made a stronghold on the hill of Ratu Boko.

[3]: 159  However, the family relationships between Lokapāla and Salaḍū are not explicitly stated in any inscription, so this interpretation must remain hypothetical.

The historian Wisseman Christie has argued that Lokapāla's period one was of initial expansion of the Mataram kingdom into East Java, and increased agrarian productivity coupled with a decline in overseas trade.