This paper aims to clarify some particulars of early Abhidharma Buddhism based on a consideration of the synonyms of atman . Vasubandhu states in the Abhidharmakosabhasya that the atman is equated with pudgala , jiva , sattva , etc. In the early stage of Abhidharma Buddhism, these terms represented the person as a provisional designation and as being distinct from the atman . After that, in the Jnanaprasthana , they became synonymous with atman under the influence of the Pudgalavadins. This identification of the atman and those terms should be thought of as a surprising change in the history of Buddhist thought which denied the atman . Moreover, this identification also influenced Mahayana Buddhism.