John Dargavel Smith (born August 26, 1946) is a former professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge.
He earned a BA degree in Oriental Studies (Sanskrit and Hindi) 1968 and a PhD in 1974.
Smith is interested in Hindu mythology and epic narrative.
In 2009 he published an abridged translation of the Mahabharata with Penguin Classics.
[2] Professor Smith is also interested in the application of computers to textual study.