Again we find variations in the versions of the myth and we have no longer the myth statement by the Tibetan to guide us. The story that the ninth head was the immortal head seems ruled out by the Tibetan's plain statement that there were three times three, or nine tests. The version used by Francis Merchant in the myth seems more accurate, namely that nine heads were destroyed and then the mystical, immortal head appeared.
All versions state that it was so buried.
In some accounts it is stated that Hercules burned off the heads, and the divine fire would indeed be needed for this destruction. The use of the fire, in the preliminary effort, still keeps that symbol in the picture. Again, one must read carefully and distinguish between people on the ordinary wheel and disciples on the reversed wheel. All of which is submitted for the pondering of the reader, not with authority. This monster has its subjective counterpart.