Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has explained kāma-likhana in his book Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Vipralambha-prakaraṇa 26):
- sa lekhaḥ kāma-lekhaḥ syāt yaḥ sva-prema-prakāśakaḥ
- yuvatyā yūni yūnā ca yuvatyāṁ samprahīyate
“Exchanges of letters between a young boy and young girl concerning their awakening of attachment for each other are called kāma-lekha.”