I always enjoy reading Prabhupada’s book and discussing the philosophy. I met this person who believes that most of the time the literal translation of scripture are influenced by the translator’s own views. What is your view on this issue?

The Acharyas give great importance to Siddhanta which functions as a theological framework. Within that framework they take some liberty in translation, but they are very strict and rigorous with the framework. Even the liberty they take is to place the Siddhanta in verses where the surface language may not explicitly mention it. However, in Shastra, Siddhanta is always present as a framework and so to invoke it in apparently non-literal translation is not considered to be deviation. It may not be strict from a literary viewpoint, but it is strict from a theological perspective.