Within the Upanishadic tradition, what is often called “authorship” is better understood as association with particular Vedic lineages and the sages who appear as teachers in the dialogues. The texts are regarded as śruti, revealed wisdom, and thus not “written” in the modern sense. For example, the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad of the Śukla Yajur Veda is closely linked with the Yājñavalkya tradition, and within it the sage Yājñavalkya stands out through his profound exchanges with figures such as Gārgī Vācaknavī, Uddālaka Āruṇi, and King Janaka of Videha. Similarly, the Chāndogya Upaniṣad of the Sāma Veda is rooted in the Kauthuma/Rāṇāyanīya lineage and prominently features Uddālaka Āruṇi, his son Śvetaketu, Satyakāma Jābāla, as well as teachers such as Raikva and Nārada. These sages are not so much authors as luminous nodes in an oral stream of teaching.

Several other major Upanishads are likewise tied to specific schools and named seers. The Aitareya Upaniṣad of the Ṛg Veda is connected with the Aitareya Āraṇyaka and traditionally linked to Mahidāsa Aitareya and his lineage. The Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad belongs to the Kauṣītaki (or Śāṅkhāyana) school of the Ṛg Veda, while the Taittirīya Upaniṣad arises from the Taittirīya śākhā of the Kṛṣṇa Yajur Veda and includes the celebrated teaching of Bhṛgu receiving instruction from Varuṇa. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, associated with the Kṛṣṇa Yajur Veda, explicitly names Ṛṣi Śvetāśvatara in its closing verses, so tradition remembers him as its seer. In each case, the school or śākhā is as central as any individual sage.

Other texts emphasize a dramatic teacher–student encounter rather than a named composer. The Kaṭha Upaniṣad of the Kaṭha school of the Kṛṣṇa Yajur Veda is framed around the dialogue between the young seeker Naciketas and Yama, the lord of death, whose instruction on the Self has become emblematic of Upanishadic inquiry. The Praśna Upaniṣad of the Atharva Veda is associated with the Pippalāda school and presents the sage Pippalāda responding to the questions of six earnest students. The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, also of the Atharvaveda (in the Śaunaka recension), opens with the teaching of Aṅgiras to Śaunaka Mahāśāla, highlighting the Aṅgiras–Śaunaka lineage as its spiritual setting. In these works, the narrative form itself reveals how knowledge was transmitted: through living dialogue rather than solitary authorship.

Some Upanishads are more austere, giving almost no narrative frame and thus no explicit human sage. The Īśā Upaniṣad, forming the final chapter of the Śukla Yajurveda Saṁhitā, is simply received as part of the Vājasaneyi/Yājñavalkya tradition without naming an individual teacher. The Kena Upaniṣad of the Tālavakāra branch of the Sāma Veda includes a symbolic episode involving Brahman, Agni, Vāyu, Indra, and Umā, yet does not identify a human author. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, a brief Atharvavedic text, offers its teaching without narrative or named sage, though later ages revered it through the commentaries of teachers such as Gauḍapāda and Śaṅkara. Taken together, these associations suggest that the “authors” of the Upanishads are best seen as the lineages and realized seers through whom the timeless insight into Brahman and Ātman found articulate expression.