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Jaina Biology
of the vagina and uterus which make the latter better able to receive a fertilized egg.22
Jaina Biology indicates that the uterine lining becomes softer and thicker, while its blood vessels and glands increase in number and size. These processes reach their height a short time after ovulation (Riukāla)23 The Jaina view on menstruation every month is supported by Indian modern Biology in this manner that “Human antheropoid ”ape females do not experience any distinct period of estrus; instead the cycle is marked by periods of bleeding, known as menstruation, which occur about every twenty-eight days and last about four days. The menstrual flow consists of pieces of the ruptured uterine linining and blood from its vessels.24,"
After the egg has been released from the ovary and is passing down the oviduct, it can be fertilized only within a short time, probably about twenty-four hours ( Bārasa ca muhuttā uvarim viddhamsagacchae sāu).25 When the sperm are deposited, through intercourse in the female reproductive system, they quickly lose their ability to fertilize an egg, within forty eight hours at the most26. The period of maximum fertility in human beings, then, narrows to the time of ovulation, about midway between successive menstrual periods.
The placenta (Mātrjivarasaharani )27
Although the placenta, (matrjivarasaharani) is primarily an organ for the support and nourishment of the developing embryo, it is also an endocrine gland. According modern Biology, "it secretes estradiol, progesterone, adrenal corticoids and chorionic gonadtropin, a substance similar to the luteinizing hormone of the pituitary. 28
22. Tassa ya hitthā joni ahomuhā saṁthisā kosā (9) tassa ya hittha cuyassa maħjari
(järisi ) tarisa u mamsassa/ te riukāle phudiyā soniyalavayā vimoya mti Kosāyāram jonim sampathā sukkamisiyā jaiya / taiya jivuvavāc juggā bhamiya jiņimdehim." Tandula Veyaliya, p. 3.
23. Tassa yä hitti cūyamamjari... te riukāle phuciya soniyalavayā Vimoyamti
Tardula Veyaliya p. 3. 24. Biology, p. 4.1
25. Tandula Veyaliya p. 4, 26. Ibid. 27. Bhagavats Sūtra 1:7,61 Tanduia Veyaliya 4, p. 9. 28. Biology, p. 403,
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