Pointing to Varman, Madhav said, "I am the only son of one of the sons of his…

Concept: In blood-relation puzzles, an indefinite reference such as “one of the sons of X” names a set of possible people, not a single fixed person. When a statement doesn't specify which member of that set is meant, every member consistent with the statement must be considered, and the relationship is described by the full set of valid identities — not narrowed down further than the statement allows.

Application: Let Varman's father be F, and let S be the son of F that Madhav calls himself the only son of.

1. S could be Varman himself, or S could be one of Varman's brothers — the statement does not say which, since it only says “one of the sons of his father.”

2. If S is Varman, then Madhav is the only son of Varman, so Varman is Madhav's father.

3. If S is a brother of Varman, then Madhav is the only son of that brother, so that brother is Madhav's father — and Varman, as the father's brother, is Madhav's uncle.

4. Both readings are fully consistent with the statement, so Varman's relation to Madhav spans both possibilities.

Cross-check: Testing the boundary case where F has only one son (Varman himself) forces the father reading; testing the case where F has more than one son keeps the uncle reading open — but in neither case does the statement support a generation reversal (a nephew relation), since the son of F is always one generation above Madhav, never below. This confirms the relationship is confined to father or uncle, matching only the option that states both.

Result: Varman is Madhav's father or his uncle.